Between Good and Evil
by Fantasywriter13
Summary: AU: What if Karone had never been kidnapped? What if Ashley had never been chosen as a Turbo Ranger due to her "real" families past? How would it have affected the Ranger Universe? How would it have affected Ashley's relationship with Andros?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Me, myself, and I wrote this. This fic is an Ashley/Andros because I love that couple and I love Power Rangers in Space. By the way, I do not own Power Rangers (though I would love to) nor do I write their scripts (if I did you would probably have seen this in the series, or something like it, maybe). I decided to write this because I like the pairing, the plot and I feel like writing this, if I get enough reviews I may actually write a prequel.

A/N: This is an A/U fic, so don't be surprised if some things don't make sense right away. Some important things to know: Karone was never kidnapped, an entire Astro Team was chosen from KO-35, Ashley was adopted, wasn't chosen as a Turbo Ranger, and the Turbo's never lost their powers and went into space.

* * *

The Quantrons were coming in force. They could barely keep themselves from getting seriously injured. He was really relived that they had picked the middle of the night to attack; there weren't any civilians around for him and the other Rangers to worry about. At least that was what Andros thought, and then he saw her. A lone girl just standing right out in the open, looking as if she was debating running or just screaming. He hoped that she chose the first; if she just turned and came back the way she came the Quantrons would never even know she was there.

Another group of Quantrons came at them and he needed to return his focus to the battle. That was when he herd it, a full out scream coming from the direction of the girl. For a moment everything froze, and then the Quantrons were coming at them again. He didn't get a chance to look for the girl again until the battle was over. When he was at last able to turn around without needing to swing his fist, he saw the girl laying unconscious on the ground almost exactly where she had been standing moments before.

"Damn it." The Red Ranger said to himself, and then continued aloud. "Hey guys, lets get her back up to the ships medical bay," At his team mates questioning looks he continued, "we don't want to risk mass hysteria by bringing the victim of a late night attack to the hospital." The others nodded their agreement and the Yellow Ranger went to gather the unconscious girl before the group teleported up to the Mega Ship.

"Now what do we do about her?" Karone asked her brother over the medical bays table. The girl was still unconscious, but it seemed that she had fainted from surprise or shock, rather than having been knocked unconscious in the attack.

"I don't know, I guess that we should wait until she wakes up then see about returning her to her home."

Just then the girl started to groan and opened her eyes. Both Rangers looked down and Andros was shocked to see the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes looking back at him. The girl blinked a few times, lifted a hand to her head, and began rubbing her temples.

"What happened?" She asked then glanced at her companions and around the room. "Where am I?"

"You're in the medical bay on the Astro Megaship." Karone replied before Andros could get his thoughts in order.

"Oh, what happened?" The girl asked again.

"There was a Quantron attack in downtown Kirot, you walked into the middle of it and fainted. We brought you back here once the fight was over."

The girl looked confused for a second, then a look of understanding dawned on her and she nodded her head.

"Treat me up here rather than start a mass panic at the increased number of attacks. Smart decision." She said to herself.

Andros started at how accurately she had followed his train of thought. Karone just smirked at the look on her brother's face. It wasn't often that things surprised him anymore, plus she had seen the look on his face when the girl had first woken up, it was obvious that he already had a slight crush on the girl.

"You two must be Power Rangers than, huh." The girl stated aloud, causing both of the siblings gazes to swing back to her in shock. Everyone on KO-35 knew who the Rangers were; they were always on the planetary news trying to keep the public calm or on the intergalactic channels when they had to represent KO-35 at meetings on Eltar. How could she not know who they were? The girl obviously caught their looks.

"I'm new to KO-35," she said. "I'm originally from Earth. The identities of the Rangers there are pretty much top secret."

The two Astro Rangers nodded their heads; all of the Rangers knew the lengths the Earth Rangers went to too keep their identities secret. Although, why they did it was a mystery to the rest of the galaxy.

"Um, I hate to interrupt the thinking process but, since it's fairly obvious the public in general knows who you are, mind telling me?" Both of them looked at her suddenly again, it was like they kept forgetting she was in the room. Except the guy, he was kind of staring at her and it making her nervous. The girl in yellow smiled at her and began to apologize just as the boy began to stumble through an introduction.

"Sorry, it just comes as sort of a shock that you don't know us. I'm Karone, Yellow Astro Ranger and the teams second in command. The stuttering one over there is my older brother, Andros, Red Astro Ranger and the leader of our team. The girl giggled as Andros glared at his sister.

"I'm Ashley," she introduced herself, "Ashley Hammond."

* * *

A/N: Well that's it for chapter one, I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to get more up soon. As well as some of the other fics I've been working on.


	2. Beginnings

A/N: It has been a while since I last updated hasn't it, I'm really sorry about that. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to read me babbling apologies so, on with the second chapter.

Disclaimer: If I owned this show, would I be writing a fanfic. (Although, I do have my suspicions that published Authors and Writers do read the fanfics based on their works and may actually write some of them. But I don't have any proof yet.)

* * *

"It's nice to meet you." Karone nodded. She was doing her best to ignore her brother, who was still glaring at her over Ashley's head.

"So…now what?" Ashley asked. Her expression was a cross between confusion and hesitation. For a moment Karone could have sworn that she also sounded afraid, of them. Her assessment of the girls tone was interrupted when her brother finally decided to fully enter the conversation.

"Dinner…" The red ranger said out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Both girls replied, looking at the young man in confusion.

"It's time for dinner…and you haven't eaten in a day and…and so you should…eat I mean…so that you don't faint, again." He stopped in frustration and ran a hand through his two-toned hair.

Karone looked at her brother in shock; she had never seen him this flustered. She glanced at the young woman sitting on the examination table and saw the same look that was probably on her own face. She looked back at her brother and just couldn't hold back the laughter any longer. After a few moments with Ashley looking at her in confusion and her brother once more glaring at her, she was finally able to get some semblance of control over herself.

"I'm sorry pant, pant it's just that pant, pant you can be so pathetic sometimes."

"I've gotta agree with the girl on that one." A new voice sounded, causing three pairs of eyes to swivel toward the door. "Kail asked me to see how everyone was fairing, quite well I see."

A blonde boy, around Andros age, stood in the doorway. His hair was short and semi-spiked and his blue eyes seemed to be overflowing with mischief. He wore a flight suit similar to what Andros and Karone had on except for the fact that it didn't have as many markings and he wore a white shirt underneath, rather than the red or yellow that the siblings had on.

"Um…?" Ashley broke the silence that descended upon them as he and Andros seemed to be caught in a staring match the minute the boy had finished speaking. At the sound of the girls voice both boy's turned to look at her.

"Sorry, I'm Zhane." He introduced himself with a grand flourish as he bowed to her. Andros and Karone both rolled their eyes at his idiocy, while Ashley raised an eyebrow and sat in silence for a beat before posing her next question.

"Are you a Ranger, too?" Andros barked out a startled laugh while his sister snickered into her palm. Zhane shot aggravated looks at both of them in turn before he turned back to the young woman that had been found the previous night.

"No," he sighed in exasperation before answering her question. "I've been his best friend since we were kids," he pointed at Andros, "and I'm her future husband." He finished, pointing at Karone now. The yellow ranger rolled her eyes as her brother mock glared at his best friend.

"Over my dead body." Andros crossed his arms over his chest and did a very good job of looking superior.

"Aww Andros, do we need to call Ecliptor back in?" Zhane asked playfully. He stopped and looked over at Ashley when he heard her gasp. She wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. Zhane was about to change the subject when DECA interrupted the silence for him.

"Andros, Karone there is an incoming message from Eltar. You're needed on the bridge." Andros looked down at the girl on the bed and Zhane immediately caught the look of worry.

"Don't worry. I'll take her to get something to eat, then show her around a little. Just find us when you're finished."

Karone smiled at her boyfriend and Andros shot him a grateful look before turning back to their guest.

"I'm really sorry about this." Ashley turned to look at him like he was insane for a moment before breaking into a smile that made his breath catch.

"Its fine really, perfectly understandable."

"So, I'll see you a little later?"

"Guess so." He nodded and turned to the door.

"DECA, tell the others that we're on our way."

"Of course." With that he walked out the door, his sister following behind after waving to Ashley.

"So, how about we go eat?" Zhane asked a few minutes later. Ashley nodded; hopped off the bed she had woken up on and followed him out the door. The two walked down the halls in silence for a few moments before something occurred to Ashley.

"Are you sure that it's alright for you to show me around? I mean, I can't imagine you have tours of this place." She made a sweeping gesture to include the whole of the ship.

"It's not something that we normally do, but I figure its better that you learn the lay of the land now, rather than later."

"What do you mean?" The confused girl tilted her head to the side, making her look very adorable.

"Well, judging by the look on Andros face and the look on your own, I'd say we're going to be seeing a lot of you up here. I just think its better that you learn where everything is now, while one of us is free to show you, rather than trying to find something on your own later when everyone is busy." Zhane glanced at the girl beside him and saw her looked down, eyes wide, and bright red staining her cheeks. He laughed causing her to look up at him.

"I'm sorry." He said after a moment. "I didn't mean to embarrass you that much." His eyes met hers and she could see that he really was sorry, and over something so simple.

"Its fine, I'm just not used to this sort of thing."

"Meeting Rangers?" He could see how that would be a bit of a shock, especially to someone from Earth, but would it really make someone this nervous?

"No, people talking to me."

Zhane glanced at her sharply at these words and was about to question her when he saw the look on her face. She looked so sad and alone, so lost, that he didn't have the heart and quickly changed the subject. They had reached the hanger bay doors any way.

A few hours' later Andros and Karone found the two in the observatory.

"This is so amazing." Ashley's voice could be heard from down the hall.

"Yeah, Andros, Karone, and I used to sleep up here sometimes," Zhane was answering her as the siblings walked in. He was scratching the back of his head and looked a little nervous. The two looked at each other in surprise; he hadn't acted this way in years. "I'm pretty sure the sleeping bags are still in the closet over there."

"Hey." Ashley chirped at the newcomers. She had turned to look at Zhane and seen the others behind him. He whirled around to see who she was talking to.

"So, what's up?" he asked his friend. This was what normally happened when they got messages. He wasn't allowed to hear the actual thing, but if it was something they felt they could tell him they would come find him as soon as they were finished with the official stuff.

"Eltar is hosting another seminar and "requests" the presence of the Kerovian Rangers." Karone answered. She was slightly irritated since they had just gone to a seminar three months ago, and they were never asked to go to these things. If it was "requested" that you attend, it was pretty much an order.

"Again, didn't you guys just go to one of those?" Zhane asked in confusion.

"Yeah well, you know how they are." Andros looked at his companions. Karone and Zhane nodded and Ashley had this very cute look of confusion. He shook his head and got back to the topic at hand, not noticing the knowing look that passed between his sister and his best friend.

"The only question now is where Zhane is going to stay." Karone got back on topic as well.

"What do you mean?" Ashley was once again confused. Andros smiled at her and she immediately began blushing again.

"About eight months ago the idiot got himself band from Eltar for a year." Ashley's eyebrows rose and she turned her gaze to the boy who was now looking at the floor sheepishly. Suddenly an idea struck and she hurried to voice it before she lost her nerve.

"He could stay with me." The three Kerovians looked at her in shock for a moment before Zhane smiled, followed by Karone, and then Andros, although he still seemed nervous about it for some reason.

"Alright, if you don't think it would be too much trouble." Andros said, he glanced at his friend, a warning about what would happen to him if he did cause trouble.

"Of course not it's the least I can do." The other three nodded and Karone went with Zhane to go and get some of his things.

"Um, Ashley…"Andros started as the two of them stood alone looking out at the stars.

"Yes?"

"About earlier…" he trailed off again and Ashley turned to look at him, encouraging him to continue. "I'd still really like to have dinner with you, when we get back I mean." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration again as he turned to look out at he stars. He started slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Ashley again.

"I'd like that too." She answered with a smile, he returned it and they stood there like that until a slight cough caused them to jump apart and look down at the floor in embarrassment.

"I hate to interrupt," Karone teased sweetly, "but we have to get going. Which means they have to get going."

"Right, DECA, teleport them to…wait, where do you live?" Andros asked, looking at Ashley in apology. She laughed a little and nodded in understanding.

"It's a little southwest of Kirot, Cordieana?"

"Cordiyeana?" Karone substituted when the two males looked at Ashley in confusion.

"That's it!" Ashley looked up from her contemplation on the name of the city she lived in. She saw the looks on their faces and looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry, I haven't been here that long."

"It's alright." Andros smiled and then looked over at the little camera mounted in the corner. "DECA, teleport them to Coriyeana."

"Of course."

"See you in about a week." Karone waved at the two as the disappeared in a stream of white light.

* * *

A/N: Again, sorry it took me so long to get this out. I'm really going to start doing better with updating. Wow, I think that this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written, for any of my fics. Now please click on the little selection menu below and REVIEW. 


	3. News

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, if I did we would probably still be in season one do to my lack of updating abilities.

* * *

A little over a week after their original departure from KO-35 Andros and Kerone teleported down to the coordinates Zhane had sent them once reaching Ashley's house. The two Rangers looked around what appeared to be an entry hall. 

"Of course, Zhane would give us coordinates to a place inside her house." Andros muttered to himself.

Kerone smirked at her brother and was opening her mouth to retort when arguing voices interrupted.

"I'm telling you Ashley, I can totally take horror movies." Zhane's voice drifted from down the hall.

"And I'm telling you," Ashley replied over her shoulder as she stepped into the foyer, "Scary Movie is not what you think it is."

Zhane's face screwed up in confusion for a moment before he noticed the Ranger's presence.

"Hey guys."

Ashley whirled around as Zhane sent a jaunty wave in their direction.

"Oh, you're back. How was your…wait…how did you get in here?" Ashley asked, perplexed.

"We teleported directly to the coordinates Zhane gave us," Kerone paused for affect, "and we haven't moved since."

Ashley blinked a few times as she processed the information. Her eyes then widened and immediately turned to slits as the brunet whirled around and began chasing Zhane around the living area.

"She's pretty agile." Kerone noted.

Andros nodded in reply, but kept his eyes fastened on the young woman as she leapt over her sofa and managed to tackle Zhane as he ran by.

"Guys," Kerone finally interrupted, "as funny as this is to watch we've got guests up on the Mega Ship that we," she indicated herself and Andros, "really should get back to."

Ashley and Zhane both looked up from their position on the floor. They glanced at each other and Ashley warily let Zhane out of the headlock she had him in.

"I'll go start packing." Zhane said as he stood.

He headed down the hall as Ashley rose and wiped her hands off on her skirt. There were a few moments of marked silence as Ashley looked anywhere but at the two Rangers standing in front of her. Kerone watched out of the corner of her eye as her brother looked down at the floor and fidgeted.

Finally, after about two minutes, Andros glanced up and locked eyes with his sister. He nodded in the direction Zhane had gone and glance meaningfully at Ashley. Kerone immediately got the message and threw a quick smirk at her brother before tuning to face their hostess.

"I should probably go help him pack. We do have guests to get back to on the Mega Ship and the sooner we get back the better."

With that the Yellow Astro Ranger turned and marched off in the direction that her brothers' friend had gone. Andros and Ashley stood still a few more moments before Ashley decided to try starting a conversation.

"So, how was the meeting?"

"Good, as far as they go." Andros replied, finally making eye contact.

"What was it about?"

Ashley immediately regretted the question and was internally berating herself as Andros' eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm sorry, that didn't… I mean, that's not how… that didn't come out right."

Ashley watched her thumbs twirl around each other as she tried to come up with something more to say.

"It's the whole conversation thing. You see, I'm not good at it. When I tried to come up with a way to start one, well the meeting was the first thing that came to mind since you just got back from it. And the next logical question after 'How was it?' was, 'What was it about?' since I didn't know what it was about."

Ashley ended her rushed monolog with a little bit of a pant and stared in shock as Andros began to chuckle.

"It's okay Ash," the Red Ranger said, using a nickname for the first time, "I understand; believe me I understand." he murmured, almost under his breath.

Andros looked away and walked over to look out the window. Ashley's look of confusion faded, she began moving to comfort him when he began speaking once more.

"You won't tell anyone, right?" he asked, looking at her reflection.

Ashley nodded her head as she came up to stand beside him. Andros looked away for a moment and took a deep breath before starting.

"It was an emergency meeting, held because one of our uppermost leaders was captured by the forces of Evil."

Andros stopped to take another deep breath and was so caught up in the memory of the meeting that he didn't notice Ashley's mixed look of shock and despair. Nor did he notice her increased breathing.

"It was Zordon of Eltar; he was captured by Dark Specter."

"What!" Ashley interrupted sharply.

Andros finally looked back at Ashley and saw the look of horror on her face and the terror in her eyes. He didn't stop to think about the fact that most civilians, especially from Earth, didn't know who Zordon was. Andros walked over and put an arm around her shoulders before guiding her to sit down on the couch.

"How?" Ashley asked.

She managed to pull herself together after a few moments. Andros' arm loosened around her shoulders as he debated whether or not to tell her.

"He was on his way to visit some of the Rangers from another planet. They were attacked and nearly destroyed by Divatox when she was told to retreat. Dark Specter was preparing a banquet in honor of Zordons' capture.

Thankfully, Divatox left before the Turbo Power Grid was destroyed, so they still have a way to at least somewhat protect their system but…well the Turbo Powers are fairly weak. Earth has never been a major priority on Dark Specters list."

"I know."

Ashley said to herself. She noticed the look Andros sent her and hurried to come up with an elaboration.

"I mean, I always figured that, with the way the Rangers so called opponents bungled along, they couldn't be the most vile things in the Universe."

Andros raised his eyebrow at her logic, but began chuckling after a few moments. Soon, both were outright laughing and neither could get a hold of themselves until Zhane and Kerone came out with Zhane's things and asked what was so funny.

"It was nothing really." Andros replied.

Zhane and Kerone looked at each other for a few moments before nodding succinctly, deciding that the tension of being alone together must have gotten to the two.

"So Ashley, will you be joining us for dinner on the Mega Ship?" Kerone asked.

"Yeah, I meant to ask," Andros looked down as he admitted his failure to do so, "I'm sure the Turbo Rangers would love to meet you."

"Tu…Turbo Ranger?" Ashley asked shakily, her eyes wide with fear.

Zhane and Kerone noticed this and looked at each other in confusion. Andros, misinterpreting her fear, hurried to assuage Ashley's fear of the Turbo Team.

"They're our guests up on the Mega Ship, the Earth is fairly safe now and they want to help find Zordon."

Kerone saw Ashley open her mouth to question further but interrupted and answered the question she could tell was coming.

"We understand that accidents happen and were there for the only team with true space travel capabilities that weren't completely ticked off at them."

"Oh." Ashley nodded at the answer, "Well, I'd love to join you, but I'm a little overwhelmed right now."

Kerone noticed the look of disappointment on her brothers' face as well as Ashley's own sad look and hurried to suggest a solution.

"Well then maybe the two of you should go out tonight. Andros hasn't been off the ship for any amount of time in ages."

Andros looked up at his sister gratefully while Ashley thought about it for a moment.

"I did promise you dinner." Andros interrupted her thoughts.

"Alright." Ashley replied, smiling shyly.

Andros blinked in surprise a few times, not quite believing that she had agreed.

"I'll pick you up at seven?" Andros asked in a somewhat shocked voice.

"Sounds great."

He smiled at her and the two stood up as Ashley began walking them to the door. The two boys left but Ashley held Kerone back for a moment.

"Thanks, for the intervention." She said quietly.

"No, problem; I could see how all of this could be overwhelming, plus my idiot brother didn't think about the fact the Turbo Rangers are the super secret Rangers from the planet you came from. No one can blame you for wanting prepare yourself to meet them."

"Yeah, I want to be prepared." Ashley laughed a little nervously at Kerone's comment.

With that Kerone gave a small wave and tore down the path after her brother. Ashley stood in the doorway a few moments, watching them go, before turning to shower and change before dinner.

* * *

AN: I'm soooooooo sorry that it took me so long to update. A lot has been happening and I really could not find any time. Anyway, I graduated high school and am now in college where I have a roommate who I have asked to keep after me about updating unless too much homework comes up. I hope to get a new chapter out once a week from now on. Again that's hope not a promise. Later, Fantasywriter13 


	4. Suspicions and Fears

A/N: Okay, so here's Chapter 4. It doesn't actually have Andros or Ashley in it, as far as relationships go it pretty much is to show Zhane and Kerone's, it also introduces one of my "original" Astro Rangers, but its main purpose is to show some of the possibilities.

* * *

The next couple of weeks followed the same pattern as Ashley got to know the Astro team. She and Andros would at least have dinner together every night. Sometimes it would just be herself and Andros, but after that first evening they would normally be joined by at least one of the other Ranger or Zhane.

Kerone had taken the other three Astro Rangers aside almost as soon as they returned from getting Zhane and had privately informed them how Ashley had acted when they told her the Turbo Rangers were with them. As they got to know the newest "addition" to their team, they each tried to assuage her anxiety by telling her about the funny and interesting things the Turbo's had been doing while on the Megaship and sharing stories the Earth Rangers had told them.

After a few days, however, the Astro Rangers gave up their efforts as they noticed that Ashley still seemed to clam-up and get a semi-terrified look in her eyes whenever the Turbo Rangers were brought up.

Andros was still fairly oblivious to Ashley's fear of the Turbo's, but Kerone began suspecting that there may be something more behind Ashley's fear than simple nervous. After about two and a half weeks she went to talk with the one person on board the ship who knew Ashley best.

The Yellow Astro Ranger walked down the hallway of the Megaship looker for her brother and boyfriend, assuming they would be together this late in the afternoon.

"Servia." Kerone called as she turned a corner.

The Pink Astro Ranger turned back to look at her friend, her long white hair whirling around her despite being held back, her emerald eyes where questioning in her pale face as she waited for her Kerone to catch up with her.

"Have you seen Zhane?" Kerone asked.

"Yeah, he and your brother were walking down to the jump tubes. Andros and his girlfriend are going out alone tonight."

By unspoken agreement the Astro team had decided not to mention to much about Ashley while the Turbo Rangers were on board, at least not until they met her.

Kerone nodded her head in response and waved as she turned to go the way Servia had come. She reached the door to the bay just as a stream of red disappeared from in front of Zhane. Kerone sighed in relief, not wanting her brother to get suspicious of her need to talk to Zhane alone.

"Zhane, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.

"Sure Kerone." He replied, turning to look at her.

"Well . . . I wanted to know if it was just me . . ."

Kerone trailed off uncertainly; unsure whether there was actually something to worry about regarding her new friend or if she was about to make a complete idiot of herself.

"If what was just you?" Zhane asked a few moments after she trailed off.

"If it was just me or if there was more to Ashley than we first realized."

Zhane's brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to process her comment. For the next few moments his expression was constantly in motion as he decided she might have meant one thing, then changed his mind and decided she must have meant something else. A few more minutes and he gave up; deciding to look and sound questioning and angry, demanding an answer.

"You think she lied to us? You're lucky your brother isn't here to hear you say that. You know how he feels . . ."

Kerone rolled her eyes and stalked across the room to place a finger over his lips silencing him with both her actions and the glare she sent him over her hand.

"No I don't think she lied to us. It just seems to me that her reaction whenever someone mentions the Turbo's is one of fear rather than nerves. I think that maybe something happened to her on Earth and that's why she left."

Zhane opened his mouth to reply that nothing bad could have happened when he thought back to when they first met Ashley and her comments. Kerone saw him close his mouth and the thoughtful expression that came over his face; she stayed silent and let the blonde man work out his thoughts without interruption.

"She did say something . . ." Zhane trailed off thoughtfully.

"What did she say, Zhane?" Kerone prompted after a moment's silence.

Zhane jerked and looked down into Kerone's eyes, obviously having forgotten that anyone was there.

"That first night after she woke up, I was showing her around while you guys were receiving that message from Eltar."

Kerone nodded her head in acknowledgment when he paused to make sure she knew what day he was talking about.

"I was apologizing, I think, either that or she was. Anyway, she said something about not being used to this. I asked if she was referring to being around Rangers and she said, 'no, people talking to me.' I thought it was a little strange at the time, but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it and probably hadn't meant to say it in the first place, so I let it go."

The Yellow Ranger was silent a few moments as she thought about what her boyfriend had just told her.

"So," she ventured, "something happened to her on Earth, possibly causing her to leave, and she's afraid that the Turbo Rangers will hold it against her or agree with the ones who hurt her, because they are from Earth."

"That, or the Turbo's had something to do with it."

Kerone cast a withering look at him.

"Zhane, they're Rangers." She said in exasperation.

"So what? They're arrogant and rude. **Do not** try and deny it Kerone," Zhane held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest, "They hide it fairly well, but it's obvious by the way they talk to you guys. The Turbo Rangers think they're better than you. Whether it's because they think that they were the only Rangers chosen by Zordon or they think you guys let identities slip or something, I don't know . . ."

He trailed off as Kerone looked up at him uncertainly. Zhane was voicing some of the things she had been thinking about and fearing since the Turbo Rangers had come to KO-35. She was never sure if she could talk to the others about it and never had a moment alone with her boyfriend. She looked away and Zhane could see her chewing on her lower lip before she started talking uncertainly.

"You know, they've had Zordon with them since before the Earth was first attacked . . ."

Zhane grabbed her arm and forced her to face him, seeing exactly where her little speech was going.

"That just proves how much better than them you guys are," he responded vehemently, "the lot of you have protected the colonies since you were ten, without anyone telling what to do, or even what your own Power could do."

Kerone took a moment to process everything before she replied.

"Thanks Zhane."

She smiled up at him in gratitude as Zhane smiled reassuringly back down at her. They stood like that for a few moments before Kerone sighed and looked away again.

"That still doesn't explain it."

"Explain what?" Zhane asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"Ashley's fear. Even if the Turbo Rangers did do something to her, how could she possibly have known?"

Zhane's shoulders slumped forward in defeat.

"You're right," he sighed, "those Earth Rangers hide their identities better than they hid Zordon."

Kerone smiled a little and the two stood there thinking.

"Maybe . . ." Zhane interrupted the silence, "maybe she's afraid to find out if they did anything to her."

"Maybe . . ." Kerone trailed off uncertainly. "Anyway, just keep your eyes and ears open for now."

"Of course."

A smirk came over the mischievous boy's lips. He winked at the Ranger before him and continued.

"Anything for my future sister in law."

Kerone started in surprise before raising an eyebrow in question.

"How do you figure?"

"Well . . ." Zhane drew out the word dramatically, "Andros is going to marry Ashley."

Kerone nodded her head in agreement and Zhane continued.

"And you're going to marry me, so Ash will be my sister in law."

The Yellow Astro Ranger would have retorted, or at least responded in some way, if not for the fact that she had nearly collapsed in laughter.

* * *

A/N: Well there you have it, just so everyone realizes, I really do like the Astro team from the series; they are my favorites over all; but for the purposes of this fic at least they are kind of evil, in a sense.

Also, I already have the next three or four chapters mapped out so it should not take me to long to get them out. However, I do still have homework and class plus I want to update some of my other fics as well.


	5. Small Confrontations

AN: Chapter 5, considering the fact that this is obviously not the end, this is almost officially that longest fanfic that I have written, yay.

Disclaimer: Do Not Own. Not Saying That I Do. Do Not Sue.

Reviewer Response (FYI, this is the first time I'm doing this kind of thing):

Jessica01: I said that they are evil in a sense. It is more that they are arrogant and kind of close-minded. You will see it more as the fic progresses.

Ghostwriter: Thanks a lot, I think that someone else mentioned it to me once, but I obviously hadn't done anything about it.

Phantom Rogue: You're close, but not quite it. If you're gonna guess, please E-mail your answers and I'll tell ya if your right. That way it won't be spoiled for our other viewers.

Ashley Hammond Astro Yellow: Thanks for the review, glad to know your so excited about it.

the power of love: Short, sweet, too the point, I like it and I'll try to update ASAP.

serenitylovegod: I hope you enjoy the next installment as much as the last. chapter six should be great tho'.

me: Will do, and I'll try to have six out by Halloween.

* * *

Andros was finishing the systems checks for the day when the Red Turbo Ranger, TJ, walked onto the bridge.

"Hey Andros, anything I can help with?" the Terrain questioned.

"No, I'm just about done; thanks anyway."

"Not a problem. So what are your plans for this evening?"

The Turbo Ranger asked as he sat down in one of the console chairs. He glanced over the systems before looking back at his host for an answer. The leader of the Astro Rangers watched his fellow Red Ranger from the corner of his eye; he could not put his finger on what it was, but the Turbo's seemed a little off to him.

"I'm going down to the surface." Andros finally responded.

"You all seem to do that a lot. Why not just get a place down there?"

"We do like some privacy," he answered without taking his eyes off the readouts.

"Oh that's right," TJ drawled, "your people know who all of you are."

Andros glanced sharply to his left and narrowed his eyes, wondering what the other Ranger's statement and tone were implying. A retort was on the tip of his tongue when the console in front of him began beeping; indicating that the systems check was complete. He turned back to the computer and logged off after checking the final results.

"You going to pick up a girl or because you've already got one?" TJ asked as Andros was finishing up.

"I have a date with my girlfriend. Which I am already late for, so if you'll excuse me."

Andros nodded to his counterpart, then turned and left before the other boy could respond. He was not quite as dense as his team mates believed him to be. He had noticed the way Ashley acted every time the Turbo Rangers were brought up and decided that the visiting Rangers had no business knowing about her until she was ready.

"That was abrupt."

A voice coming from just down the hall startled Andros out of his thoughts. He glanced up and sighed as the figure of his best friend unfolded itself from where it had been leaning against the wall and fell in step beside him.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Andros glanced at his friend and wondered at his clipped tone. Maybe he was not the only one who did not trust the other Rangers simply _because_ they were Rangers.

"Do you trust them?"

He could see Zhane glance at him, trying to decide exactly what he was getting at. He finally shrugged his shoulders and answered.

"I wouldn't take their word over the civilians I _know_, if that's what you're asking. Why, do you not trust them?"

Andros debated his answer for a moment and then decided to tell his friend the truth; it could not hurt to have another set of eyes keeping watch over their five guests.

"I wouldn't go quite that far, but there is something about them, I just don't know what it is."

Zhane nodded his head in response and tried to find another topic to switch to.

"You said you were running late for your date," he realized suddenly, "but it's only five thirty, I thought you were picking her up at six."

"I am," Andros replied instantly, "but I wanted to stop and get her something on the way. Of course I'm not sure what to get her yet, hence the running late."

"Flowers."

"Huh?" Andros replied to his friends' one word statement.

"Get her flowers, she loves 'em, but hasn't been in her place long enough for any to grow in. When I was staying with her she would go out pretty much every day in order to get new ones."

"That's a good idea, Zhane, thanks."

The other boy shrugged in response and then paused the conversation when he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. They both smiled a little and nodded as Servia came around the corner from the hanger bay; she nodded in response and continued on toward the lift.

"I would say get her something Red." Zhane nodded over at his friends shirt. Andros rolled his eyes and mock punched him in response.

"Put something yellow in as well," he continued at Andros' questioning look, "she loves that color, I've seen her wear it almost as much as Kerone does."

Andros smiled at his friend in gratitude, then teleported down to the planets surface. His teleportation stream caused a brief moment of curiosity among the civilians in the area, but when they could see that it was only one Ranger and he was not in any sort of uniform, they turned and went back to their business.

'That is the advantage of not having secret identities.' The Red Ranger thought to himself, 'you don't need to hide every time you're needed, and everyone is so used to seeing you that it doesn't really come as a shock anymore and they mostly leave you alone.'

He stepped up to one of the many shops along the street and walked through the door. The many different fragrances hit him all at once, surprisingly enticing and repulsive at the same time in their mixing.

"May I help you sir?"

Andros turned to see a young man standing behind a counter off to the left of the door.

"Yeah, I want to get something for my girlfriend." He replied.

The boy nodded his head and glanced around for a moment before looking back to the Ranger standing before him.

"Anything in particular?"

"Maybe something Red," the boy smirked a little, "and Yellow. She likes the color almost as much as my sister."

Andros hurried to explain after seeing the guy's slightly confused look at the word yellow. It was fairly obvious that after associating his own color with the bouquet that the clerk thought the other color would be a Ranger as well.

The clerk thought for a moment; then snapped his fingers and motioned for Andros to follow him as he walked toward the back of the store.

Ten minutes later the Red Ranger paid and walked out of the shop with a bouquet made up of six Roses, three red and three yellow, with some Baby's Breath mixed in. Andros checked his watch and began to walk the two or so miles to Ashley's home.

* * *

A/N: Okay, this was originally going to be the date chapter, but it was getting to long and taking to long so I figured I could just put this out and get to the date in the next chap. Also, Ashley's secret will be coming out in the next two or three chapters so keep an eye out. I should have the next two chapters out by the end of November, if not sooner. 


	6. The Date

A/N: I'm finally updating this thing, yay me. Sorry it took so long, the last year has been incredibly hectic for me what with my first year of college and then finding out that I now have a little sister on my dad's side to go along with the little brother on my mothers (three kids between my parents, I'm older than both my siblings by at least seventeen years and none of us have the same last name) and then I found out in March or so that my step-dad was being deployed to Iraq (he left a couple weeks ago, please keep him in your thoughts. Anyway, enough of my rambling, here's the next chapter; we finally get to see some of the fluff.

Disclaimer: Haven't we been over this already?

* * *

Andros walked up and knocked on Ashley's door at exactly six o'clock. He then turned his back to the door and looked around his girlfriend's front yard. It was not very often that he stood outside her house on his own. After a few mishaps with the neighbors gardens the two of them had decided that it would be best for him to just teleport to the coordinates Zhane gave him inside the house. 

As he waited for Ashley to get to the door he took in his surroundings. There was a rather large Zeon tree, which Ashley told him looked like an Earth plant called an Oak, at a point off to the side of the yard. Beyond that there was very little with the exception of grass. Although, now that he looked more carefully, there were a few patches in which Ashley was obviously trying to start a garden of her own.

Andros heard a clicking noise behind him and turned around to face the former Earthling, his breath caught in his throat. Most of his thinking capacity went toward cataloging exactly how gorgeous she looked in a yellow tank top and red skirt, the rest of his brain tried to figure out why seeing her in his color affected him so much.

He jerked out of his stupor when Ashley began waving a hand in front of his face. She tilted her head to the side and cocked an eyebrow at him to question what had caused him to space out. Andros shook his head and let out a breath as his lips formed a small smile.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at the ground in embarrassment, "these are for you." He held out the roses he had forgotten about until he glanced down.

"They're beautiful." Ashley breathed out, her eyes shining as she accepted them from him. "Let me just put them in water and grab a jacket."

Andros followed her into her home and watched as she pulled an intricately carved crystal vase from underneath her sink and began to fill it with water. He looked on in wonder as the tiny moons, suns, and stars began to dance around the planets surface as the water trickled into the small world's depths.

When he was finally able to pull himself away from the image in the crystal he noticed Ashley was looking at him strangely once again.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "That's the second time you've zoned out on me in the last ten minutes."

"I'm fine . . ."

"You sure? I don't want to get worse if you're sick."

"Ashley, I'm fine. The first time I was too distracted by how beautiful you looked to really pay attention to anything else and the second time was because of the vase you were using. It seemed to come alive as you poured water into it and reminded me of something else I saw once, although I can't remember where."

He mumbled the last statement to himself and looked away with a slightly confused expression. When he finally looked at her again, Andros noticed that Ashley's cheeks had become a brilliant shade of red at some point and her eyes seemed to be glued down. He began thinking back over everything that he had told her, trying to figure out what could have made her react like that, when she spoke up.

"You really think I look beautiful?" She asked while staring at the floor.

"Of course!" He replied vehemently, wondering what could have happened in her past to make her doubt that obvious fact.

Ashley looked up at him for just a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. However, it was enough time for the Red Astro Ranger to see the look of surprise on her face at the force of his words.

Andros reached over and took her chin between his forefinger and thumb, forcing her to look up at him, before sliding his hand up to cup her cheek and the side of her jaw so that he could look into her eyes.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that you're gorgeous?" he asked her in a voice barley audible to himself.

The moment held until Ashley shrugged a little bit and looked off to the side, away from the intense gaze of the man in front of her.

"We had better go," she said, indicating the clock on the wall above the synthesizer, "We don't want to be late for dinner."

Andros was obviously reluctant to let go of her, but he did manage and in a few minutes the couple was walking away from Ashley's house and toward downtown Cordiyeana. The walk to Illiop's, a small but very nice restaurant that the Rangers went to as often as they could, was made in relative silence. Neither of the two wanted to bring up what had just happened. Ashley because of her nerves and Andros because it was clear that Ashley did not want to talk about it just then.

Once they got to the restaurant the mood lightened tremendously. There would be no hart to hart talks while they were surrounded by so many people. Nor were they likely to get lost in their own world and forget; there were just too many people around.

The couple spent the next hour talking about what had happened on the Megaship that day. Who was doing what and how the search for Zordon was going. As they were eating dessert Andros seemed to forget how adverse Ashley seemed to be when it came to the Turbo Rangers of Earth and began to tell Ashley his feelings about them.

"They are just so stuck up; like they think that they can do our job better than we can, even though we've been running space missions since we were kids. And their Red Ranger, T.J., needs to know about everything that is happening in MY Rangers lives, like he's the one in charge of them; and me for that matter."

"Oh, Andros." Ashley sighed as she leaned across the table to hug him.

He blinked a few times in shock before wincing as he realized who he had been complaining to.

"I'm sorry Ash. I shouldn't go off on tangents like that . . ."

"It's alright," she interrupted him; "it's about time I told you some things. Mind if we go somewhere a little quieter?"

The first time the Rangers took Ashley to Astro Park was a few days after they got back from their conference on Eltar. The Kerovians had spent the morning telling her about how the Rangers had defended the area from Dark Specter's invasion force two years earlier and had the park named after them as a result. Then Kerone and Zhane had spent the afternoon taking turns trying to see how often they could make their Red Ranger blush, much to the amusement of everyone else present. Ashley had fallen in love with the area instantly and had only become more mystified as the sun set and the stars began blazing across the lake.

Ten minutes after the couple had paid the bill for their dinner they were walking along one of the longer paths in the park, one that wove in and out of the forest and the lake at the heart of the park. They walked in silence for a few moments, holding hands and enjoying each others company. At length Ashley sighed and moved to sit on the side along the lake. Andros followed her lead and the two were silent once more, until Ashley finally began to speak.

"Andros, do you think that everyone ends up like their family?"

"What do you mean?" Andros queried after a moment of thought.

"I mean . . . say you never met your family, you were raised by someone else. Someone who had an entirely different set of beliefs than the family you were born into. Do you think that you would turn out like the family that raised you or the family that you were born into?"

Andros looked at her oddly for a moment before seeing that she was completely serious. He looked up at the stars, searching for the reason for her strange questions and the answer that she would need to hear. His gaze shifted to the Milky Way galaxy for a second before he looked back down at the girl looking up into his eyes.

"I think that most people will end up like their parents, in the end. Even if they were raised by someone else they will eventually start showing some of the traits that their parents had as they grow up. I've seen it with a couple of the kids at the orphanage in Kirot. Why?"

"No reason really, it just popped into my head and I thought that I could get your opinion."

Ashley looked away from him as she began speaking and missed his disbelieving look. The question had been rather complicated for a spur of the moment idea and they both knew it. Plus, he had seen the look on her face as she asked and waited for his answer. Andros was not exactly sure why his answer had been so important to her, just that it was.

"So, how do you know the Turbo Rangers?" Andros asked after a rather pregnant pause.

Ashley visibly started at the sound of his voice and giggled nervously for a moment before answering, "I don't really. It's just that nobody in Angle Grove liked me very much and that was the city frequented by the Power Rangers. I can only assume that they were among the people who didn't like me or ignored me and I want to build up my courage before I find out the truth."

She was lying, or at least leaving some of it out. She did not look at him as she spoke and continued to stare out at the lake as he watched her and thought about what she had said. They spent the next half an hour in that position, Ashley looking out over the lake with Andros watching her, until Ashley stood up abruptly and said that she should be getting home.

Andros stood up to go with her and they spent the next few moments walking in another tense silence. When they made it to her door she gave him a small, nervous smile and they said goodnight before she slipped into the house and shut the door behind her. Andros shook his head a little, trying to figure out what answer she had been looking for back at the lake. He sighed and gave up for the time being; he activated his morpher and was replaced by a streak of red light that rose up and disappeared into the night sky.

Ashley stood leaning against the wall just inside her front door, tears streaking down her face. She had thought he would understand, that he and the other Astro Rangers would accept her for who she was, not who her family was. She sighed and pushed herself off the wall, beginning to plan how she would distance herself from the Kerovian Rangers. She had known all along that it was only a matter of time before her new friends found out about her, especially with the Turbo's around. She had hopped that they would trust her, maybe even help her and let her help them, but she could see now that the newfound hope was once again in vain.


	7. The Truth Revealed

A/N: Here it is, the chapter you've all been waiting for. I thought of cutting it off at different points but figured you guys have suffered enough, especially having to suffer through my irregular updating.

This chapter, as I'm sure many more will be in the future, is dedicated to my Dad who is over in Iraq right now. Please say a little something for him and hope it gets home safely when his time is over.

* * *

An hour later Andros wandered into the Jump Bay and saw Kerone and Servia talking quietly while drinking some Terrain beverage that they had seen the Turbo Rangers drinking often. He stood watching them from the doorway for a few moments before his sister noticed him.

"Hey Andros, how was the date?" she asked with a smirk.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders a little before making his way over to the synthesizer for a beverage of his own.

"That bad, huh?" Servia asked, somehow managing to look both amused and sympathetic all at once.

"Wait, I thought you two were getting along fabulously." Kerone raised her eyebrow as her brother took the seat next to her.

"I thought we were too," the Red Ranger explained, "then tonight, after dinner, we went walking in the park and she asked me the weirdest question. I answered and she seemed to get a little upset and told me she needed to get home."

Kerone glanced down at her watch, "Well it is getting kind of late." She offered.

"I took her home over an hour ago."

Servia bit her lip before asking, "What do you mean, 'She was upset?'"

"Huh?" Andros asked as Kerone looked back and froth between the two.

"I mean was she angry upset, sad upset, what?"

"Sad upset, very profound sad upset," was the prompt answer.

Kerone and Servia shared one of those looks that no man can ever interpret. The three sat in silence for a few moments before Kerone spoke up again.

"What was the question?"

"Which one?" her brother replied.

"The question Ashley asked you, what was it?"

"It was something about family."

The girls nodded at him encouragingly and he sighed before starting again.

"She asked me if I thought people always turn out like their families." Seeing their confused looks he elaborated; "She wanted to know if I thought that someone who wasn't raised by their birth family would still turn out like them or if they would turn out like the family that raised them."

The girls shared another look.

"What did you say?" Servia asked tentatively.

"I told her that they would still behave like their birth family, especially if they met some of the members of said family."

"I think that might be the point of the whole thing." Kerone jumped in, a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "If she was adopted and then found out that her family had some bad people in it, just imagine how she would have felt; and if other people found out . . . well we've all seen how prejudiced and narrow minded Terrains can be."

Silence reigned as the three became lost in their own thoughts; each considering their experiences with the Turbo Rangers. The Turbo's usually wore a somewhat superior look on their faces and got fairly upset when the Astro's did not share information with them; even if that information had nothing to do with finding Zordon or anything else involving the Earth's Rangers.

Andros sighed, "You two are right. I was just thinking about meeting long lost family. Most people would want to try fitting, try getting their blood family to like them, you know? I didn't even think about the fact that the family that raised her might be completely good and moral and her birth family might not be . . ." he trailed off and sighed once more into the silence.

Kerone and Servia looked at each other again and Kerone opened her mouth, but their leader beat her to it and began speaking again without having noticed the exchange.

"I need to apologize to her. Explain what I was thinking and beg for her forgiveness."

"Andros," Servia jumped in, "I don't think you need to beg. I mean, you couldn't have known . . ."

"I should have," Andros cut her off, "I should have thought of that, or asked her to clarify, or, or something. I should have done something else, anything else, so that she didn't get hurt."

There was another short silence as Andros got his breath back and the girls glanced back and forth between their leader and each other, trying to figure out what to say.

"I need to apologize." Andros spoke again, although it was more like he was talking to himself. "I need to apologize, but I also need to work tomorrow."

"Why not just tell her tomorrow when you go to dinner?" Servia asked.

"Do you really think she'll want to see me? Especially if I don't contact her for a full day before hand?"

"You have a point," Kerone put in, "Why don't Servia and I go down and hang out with her tomorrow?"

Andros looked at his sister questioningly while Servia began nodding.

"Yeah," she began, "we can keep her company. Make sure she doesn't get depressed or start hating you or something."

The Pink Ranger glanced across the table and saw the exasperated look her fellow female was giving her. Her eyes widened at the look before her brows furrowed in question. Kerone rolled her eyes and sighed before looking over at her brother, causing Servia to look over as well.

She saw the horrified look on her leaders face. It took a moment for her words to come back to her and she realized why he was making that face. Servia glanced at the Yellow Ranger and shrugged sheepishly.

Kerone shook her head and chuckled a little before addressing her brother, "Look Andros, she knows us. She'll assume you told us and will probably assume that we figured out her real question and the reason behind it. With the two of us going down she'll realize that we don't care who her family is; then around dinner you teleport down and we'll leave you two alone so that you can explain what you were thinking and how you were an idiot."

Andros looked relieved and actually chuckled a little as she finished speaking. He nodded at them in thanks, closed his eyes and sighed, obviously exhausted. Kerone and Servia looked at him in sympathy.

"Go get some sleep." Kerone said, startling her brother, "You're going to spend all day worrying about this and you're right; you do have to work a full day tomorrow before you can talk to her."

Andros blinked a few times and nodded again before turning to walk away. When he reached the door he turned back.

"Thanks." he said with a small smile.

The girls nodded and watched him walk out the door. They waited a few moments before simultaneously sighing one word, "_men_."

* * *

The next day went by, as predicted, rather slowly for Andros. The other male members of the Astro team realized something was wrong with their leader, but figured it was probably something to do with Ashley and the girls were handling it. The Turbo's just shot him weird looks that gradually progressed into aggravated ones as the day wore on and he remained fairly distracted.

This continued until something in the early afternoon when the alarms began going off as DECA detected an attack in the same area as Kerone and Servia. The Astro boys immediately mobilized and distractedly agreed to let the Turbo's help, momentarily forgetting Ashley's jumpiness whenever the other Rangers were mentioned and, more importantly, the fact that she was with their teammates. Zhane watched from the bridge as eight multi colored lights descended to the planet below, wishing he could help, worrying about his girlfriend and the others, and wondering what would happen when Ashley and the Turbo's came face to face.

Meanwhile, the girls had a relatively carefree morning. It got off to a ruff start as the female Rangers had been right, Ashley did assume Andros had told them, especially since they didn't actually have any plans for the day. However, once they explained the majority of the conversation from the night before she decided to give them all the benefit of the doubt. She would get to spend the day with her friends, shopping, and could figure out if she would actually be accepted here. If everything worked out they would never need to know that she had begun looking into moving to another colony.

The three young women spent the morning shopping and goofing off in the shopping district of Cordiyeana. Kerone and Servia tried, and succeeded at, keeping everything fairly lighthearted. None of the girls brought up Andros, Ashley's family, or anything else that might lead to a conversation on the events of the night before; Ashley wanted to speak to Andros first.

Around one o'clock that afternoon the Rangers and their accomplice sat eating lunch at a table in one of the districts outdoor plazas. They were finishing up and giggling madly as Kerone explained an argument which had occurred between Andros and Zhane when the boys were eight that still could not be brought up without the boys needing to be isolated.

Sudden screams began ripping through the air as people began running in their direction, constantly looking over their own shoulders. The women immediately stopped laughing as their bodies stiffened and their heads snapped toward the wave of people. The Rangers quickly rose and began running through the crowd, morphing as they went. Neither noticed as Ashley followed them and began fighting off the Piranhatrons circling the main battle. For her part, Ashley missed the arrival of the other Rangers, specifically the Turbos.

After about ten minutes the fight began winding down but the Rangers were all still on guard, half the time the pawns backed off when something else was ready to take their place.

"Ash!"

The Blue Astro Ranger's shout distracted her enough that one of the few remaining Piranhatrons was able to get a kick past her guard. However, she was able to get her hands up before she hit the ground and instead turned her fall into a semi-handspring. She used the momentum of her fall and kicked the robot in the head, sending it flying into a nearby wall, before finishing her flip and landing on her feet.

Ashley wiped her hands on her jeans and looked up to see the Yellow, Pink, and Blue Rangers all seeming to have stopped mid-step. After a few moments spent starring at each other, Ashley raised her eyebrow in question.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We were coming to save you." Kalic, the Blue Ranger, said, his voice a mixture of sheepishness and awe.

"A word of advice?" Kalic nodded for her to go on, "If your trying to help someone in a fight, don't shout out their name unless you're adding an instruction, like duck or something."

Kalic shrunk down a bit as she talked and nodded in acknowledgement. He was also silently berating himself, every good Ranger knew not to just shout some ones name in a battle. Not only would you distract the person, you would also inform everyone on the field, ally and enemy, that one of your own was in trouble. Kalic looked up again to see Ashley smiling brightly and nodding her head in forgiveness. He nodded back since she would not be able to see his smile through his helmet.

"How . . .?"

The two turned to see Kerone and Servia slowly shaking their heads to clear their shock. It was Ashley's turn to look sheepish as she realized they had never seen her fight before. In fact the only battle they had seen her enter was the one she walked into right before they met.

"I've been studying martial arts, gymnastics, and dance since I was three. I would copy my brother and cousins and Mom got me in classes when I was a little older."

Servia and Kalic nodded their heads in acceptance, but Kerone was a bit confused.

"Then how come you passed out the night we met you?"

"I was . . . surprised."

Kerone heard the pause and dropped the subject, realizing that it was something the other girl was not ready to share and would probably want to speak to her brother about first. Speaking of her bother, the Red Ranger was a blur as he ran past his sister in order to get to his girlfriend. He grabbed her and held her as close as possible. Ashley, for her part, was struggling to break free. It was not that she really wanted him to release her; it was that he seamed to have forgotten he was still powered and so was much stronger than usual. He finally pushed her an arms length away, still keeping contact with her, in order to make sure she was not injured. Unfortunately, this gave everyone else a view of her as well.

"You!" the Pink Turbo Ranger shouted. "What are you doing here!"

"She lives here!" Kerone answered ferociously, causing the Turbos to take a step back in shock while the Astros folded their arms and stood in defensive positions, backing up their teammates and their friend. Andros pulled Ashley back toward him in order to offer a little more comfort and protection to the now shaking girl.

"Don't you know who she is?" T.J. asked, managing to sound questioning and condescending at the same time.

"Of course," Andros started, "she's Ashley; a funny, intelligent, caring, beautiful woman who can apparently fight like a wildcat."

The Astro Rangers heard a slightly watery chuckle come from within the confines of Andros' arms.

"Not that stuff." None of the Turbos seemed to notice all of the Astros tense up as if they were about to start a physical battle when they heard the Yellow Turbo Rangers vicious and derogatory tone. "Don't you know who she's related to?"

"Why the _hell_ would we care about who she's related to rather than who she is?" Andros demanded quietly; his icy tone making every Ranger there shiver while making Ashley feel a little better. Maybe he really did not care.

They were not able to find out what response the Turbo's would give to that statement as another voice interrupted the conversation.

"Hello Rangers, how wonderful to see so many of you together in one place. I'll enjoy presenting all of you to Dark Spec . . . Ashley?"

Andros had felt Ashley tense up her entire body as the voice started speaking. He saw her eyes squeeze shut and her head shake back and forth as she whispered "no" repeatedly under her breath. He was focused so intently on his girlfriend that he did not notice what was being said, nor did he notice the other Rangers spreading out for the fight. At least, he did not notice anything until the villains' voice questioned the girl in his arms by name.

Ashley tensed up even further and let out a shuddering breath into the Red Rangers chest before backing up a few steps. She looked up into his visor and Andros could see the raging emotions within her. Her eyes shown with fear, acceptance, resolve, something he could not name, and, most prominently, apology. She gave him a small smile and turned to face their enemy.

Kerone looked at Ashley in amazement as she saw the exchange between her friend and her brother and, more importantly, what happened as she turned away. Ashley's eyes hardened in seconds. All the emotion which had always shown out of them was completely blocked by a wall as flawless as steel. Her back and shoulders straightened until she held an almost regal bearing. Power and authority seemed to radiate off of her as she looked at the villain with seeming indifference.

In that moment Kerone Knew, the Yellow Astro Power recognized Ashley Hammond. This was who she had been looking for, who the Power had been waiting for.

Ashley stood in front of the Rangers, holding herself with honor and pride; facing her enemies head on and hiding behind no one. She nodded her head at the villain in recognition before speaking two words in an ice cold voice, the two words she had been dreading telling Andros and the other Astro Rangers about.

"Aunt Divatox."

* * *

A/N: Okay, how many people suspected this before the chapter came out? Now how many thought of it while reading? I know that I put in at least one or two clues this chapter. I thought about giving out some more hints in earlier chapters, but thought that might make it to easy since the only two female villains up until the space season were Rita and Divatox.

I actually found it pretty funny that no one seemed to think it would be one of the women and everyone seemed to think that the family member was her father. I never said she was shunned because of who her parents were; I said she was shunned because of who her _family_ is.

Anyway, that's all for now, I'm pretty busy at the moment but I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP. The story's almost finished so please stay tuned.


	8. Friends, Family, and Enemies

A/N: Okay, chapter eight at last. Once again, I do not own Power Rangers, nor the characters you recognize from the show.

Once again this is dedicated to my father who has been in Iraq for approximately two months now.

* * *

The Turbo's took on a smug air as the Astro Rangers stared at the girl in shock.

"Well . . . that explains things." Servia's voice came over the intercoms within their helmets.

Kalic and Orian shifted to look at their Pink Ranger. Kerone saw them and signaled that they should keep quiet and they would be filled in latter. The two nodded slightly and turned back to the confrontation between their friend and her aunt.

"So this is where you ran off to Darling."

"What do you want Aunt Divatox?" Ashley replied in the same cold tone she had used earlier.

"The same things I always have." Divatox stated, her tone no longer simpering and beginning to become much harder. "I want to be the best, I want this Universe at my feet, I want Dark Specters favor, and I want the twit Dimitria to suffer. Capturing the Turbo Rangers will partially achieve one of my goals. Capturing the Astro Rangers at the same time will take me far in my other plans.

"You could join me Ashley." She said suddenly. "Together we could take this Universe from Dark Specter and rule it as our own.' The villainess saw her niece close her eyes and swallow. She smiled and said the words that she thought would fully sway the girl.

"I would even let you keep the Red Astro Ranger, since you seem to like him so much."

Unfortunately for Divatox, this seemed to have the exact opposite affect than she was hopping for. Ashley's eyes shot open and went from cold indifference to blazing fury in less than a second, her lids narrowed and her lips tightened. However, as her face took on a look of fury, her body relaxed and she shifted slightly in preparation for a fight.

"I have told you before, Aunt, I will not be the cause of others pain. As that is the only thing you bring, I will not join you. And I will NEVER subject my friends to the torment I know they would suffer in the hands of you and your _master_."

Ashley's voice had started out indifferent and almost regal, but as she went on her voice grew fierce and determined. As the listened to her, the Astro Rangers became more and more certain of their friendship with the young brunet. It was obvious that no matter what else she might share with her Aunt, Ashley's personality and beliefs were her own.

The Turbo Rangers, on the other hand, refused to see the fact that they might have been wrong about the former Terrain. They held their prejudices and saw the interaction as a way to trick the Rangers into accepting Ashley, ignoring the fact that if their beliefs were true, Ashley would have handed all the Rangers over to Divatox right then.

"Fine Ashley, you can have it your way. For now. Although I warn you, niece, when you see the error of this decision I will not be willing to offer you what I am now."

The Rangers were surprised at the Space Pirates formal mode of speech. They were all used to her normal brash way of speaking and throwing temper tantrums when she did not get her way. Her regal air and calm speech highlighted the similarities between herself and Ashley Hammond, causing the Astros to wonder who, exactly, their link was.

As she had her back to them, none of the Rangers saw Ashley's eyes soften slightly at the small note of petulance that she alone could hear in her aunt's voice. Her body did not relax in the slightest, but her voice did as she responded to Divatox in a voice barely above a whisper and which held a tinge of apology.

"You know that I would like to get to know you better, Aunt, to learn more about the family I never knew. But I can not accept these conditions. Perhaps one day we will be able to know one another without having to compromise our beliefs. I look forward to that day."

Divatox let out a sigh before responding, "As do I, niece, as do I."

Both knew that the likelihood of such a day coming was remote, just as they both knew the conversation had been ended. The same way similar conversations had been ending for the past year and a half.

The Astro Rangers looked at each other, confusion obvious in their demeanor. Divatox noticed their shifting positions and the sneer returned to her face as she addressed them.

"What are you looking at, Rangers? This doesn't concern you at all."

The sound of Divatoxs voice directed at them brought the Rangers once again to the present. The ten of them shifted into more defensive stances and waited for the villainess to make her next move. The diva rolled her eyes and gave Ashley a look that clearly said; _this is the side you want to be on?_

Ashley smiled and chuckled a little at the antics of everyone there. She had not had a chance to watch the Astro Rangers immediately before a battle and had not realized how similar they were to the many other Rangers she had seen.

Divatox sighed heavily and shook her head in exasperation, it did not matter what they believed or what planet they were from, when it came to their fighting styles all Rangers were the same. She looked back up suddenly and met her niece's gaze before smirking once again.

She felt a surge of pride as the girl took in her expression. Ashley's face became blank once again and her body tensed slightly; she, unlike the Rangers, did not immediately move into a defensive position. Her niece had an obvious confidence about her, she did not need to give away her moves before she went to attack or defend.

Divatox nodded slightly when Ashley was ready and then snapped her fingers. About thirty Piranhatrons appeared around her.

"Capture them!" She cried, her voice back to its normal lilt.

* * *

Kerone shifted in order to kick the Piranhatron running toward her. As she turned to face the majority of the action, the Yellow Astro Ranger was, for once, glad her brother was such a target; the constant stream of Piranhatrons fighting the Red Astro Ranger dept him from noticing the most important thing about the battle.

While the Rangers were all bust fighting Dixatox's lackeys, Ashley was fighting the self proclaimed Diva herself. With every blow she saw Kerone's respect and admiration of her brothers' girlfriend grew. The girl was throwing punches and kicks left and right, most of them hitting the space pirate. And while she was attempting to beat up her . . . aunt; Kerone had to take a moment to shake her head at the oddness of that statement; Ashley was blocking almost everything the woman threw back at her.

A glance around at the rest of the battle; with a pause to block a punch and kick a Piranhatron out of her way; showed that Ashley was doing better than the rest of the Astros. A single look toward the Turbos side of things made her extremely that neither she, nor her friends and planet, were under their protection. It was obvious that they would have fallen inside of two minutes if Kalic and Orian had not taken pity on them.

The Yellow Astro Ranger rolled her eyes at the hypocrisy of the Turbo Rangers and failed to notice the Piranhatron that made its way behind her. The fishlike pawn was able to land a kick to her side and cracked at least one rib while sending Kerone down panting. Fortunately, Ashley landed a similar kick to Divatox' side at the same time, causing the villainess and her henchmen to retreat before the one standing above Kerone could strike a second time.

Servia's voice came over the com-links asking all Rangers to confirm that they were still present and relatively unharmed. Kerone responded and told the others that she would rejoin them momentarily; she had been on the outskirts of the battle.

She cataloged her injuries as she stood back up and decided that they could wait until she was back with the others and they were all ready to go. She straightened further and winced slightly as the pain in two of her ribs spiked.

"Okay," she said softly, "maybe I'll mention leaving sooner as a good thing."

She shook her head and glanced to the left, looking at the others for a moment before making her way toward them.

Andros was talking quietly with Ashley; obviously checking to make sure his girlfriend was alright after the battle. For a moment Kerone worried that his overprotectiveness; which she was usually the recipient of; might irritate the girl, but Ashley's half relieved and half indulgent smile reassured the Yellow Ranger. She smirked an instant latter as she realized another benefit of Ashley's presence. If Andros was busy checking on his girlfriend, he would not have the time to nag his sister like he used to. Plus, if Ashley found his worry wart tendencies endearing it was so much the better.

Next, she looked for Servia. The Pink Astro Ranger had been knocked over at some point and was being helped up by their Blue Ranger. Kerone snickered; she knew that there was something Servia and Kalic had been keeping from the rest of the team. The Pink Ranger froze as she looked over her boyfriends shoulder and saw their teammate staring directly at them from a few meters away.

Kerone cocked her head to the side and then nodded her head slowly; silently letting her friend know that the jig was up. Servia shrugged after a few moments and took the hand of the startled Blue Ranger, leading him toward their leader as the Yellow Ranger watched.

Kerone continued walking and had almost made it to her brother when the post battle tranquility was broken by the raised voices of the Turbo Rangers and Orian, who had stayed with the Terrains to make sure that they were all right while Kalic ran to help Servia.

"Whet are you all going on about?" Orian gesticulated in wild confusion.

"Oh, please." Turbo Pink crossed her arms and adopted an exaggerated stance.

"You can't tell me you actually trust her!" T.J. said, his tone suggesting that he was talking to an idiot. "Not after everything you just heard!"

"Of course we trust her! Did you not see what just happened?" Servia broke in, her voice rising with every word.

"It's a trap," Turbo Green, Kent or Charles or something, replied in a derogatory tone, "or are you _Kerovians_ to blind to see that?"

Servia, Kalic, and Orian all breathed in sharply at the implied insult. Andros, however, was much more concerned with Ashley and Kerone was close enough to overhear their quite exchange.

"Ash . . ."

"No, Andros," Ashley interrupted, "it's okay. I'd better go." She gave him a small smile before turning and running off.

The Red Ranger stood staring after her. A few moments later Kerone got frustrated with him and, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of boys as a species, stepped forward and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. Andros started a little before turning to look at his sister.

"Go after her." She told him softly.

"But . . ." he replied looking further over his shoulder to where the Turbo Rangers stood arguing with the rest of his team.

"Don't worry," Kerone answered soothingly, "I'll take care of them. We'll meet you back on the ship."

Andros continued to look at his sister for a few moments before nodding abruptly and tuning to chase after Ashley, demorphing within the first few steps. Kerone watched until he turned a corner, then turned to where the other Rangers were still arguing.

She felt her face take on a hardened expression beneath her helmet as she strode toward the eight of them.

"Who do you think you are?" Kerone interrupted the argument. The cold viciousness in her voice caused the Turbo Rangers to take a few steps back, whether in shock or in fear she did not care. "You are here because of the hospitality of **_our_ **team. You are on **_our_** planet because we felt that it was not **_your_** fault that Zordon was captured and that you deserved a chance to get rid of any guilt caused by thoughts to the contrary, regardless of what the other teams thought.

"But now I see the truth of the matter. None of the other teams wanted to let you help, not because they blamed you for Zordons capture, **but because you are all such** **biased, prejudiced, self-absorbed, hypocrites that the others know they would _never_ be able to spend more than a few _days_ in your presence without the urge to hand you over to Dark Specter proving to be too much!**"

The second in command of the Astro Power Rangers paused to catch her breath.

"Get back to the Megaship," she started quietly, "and pack your things. We will take you back to Earth as soon as we can be sure that KO-35 will not be attacked in our absence."

T.J. moved to argue with her and she quiet nearly snaped.

"NOW!" she screamed.

"Deca, teleport the Turbo Rangers to their rooms, please."

Orian's soft voice cut through the tension in the air and a moment latter the Turbo Rangers disappeared in a rainbow of colored lights. Kerone took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down; wincing as her side nearly erupted in pain.

"Kerone?" Servia asked, having heard her friends second, sharp, intake of air.

"I think I cracked a few ribs in the fight." She replied through clenched teeth. "Then I aggravated them in the rest of the drama."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kalic asked as he came to stand beside her, ready to support her if she needed it.

Kerone's voice became extremely sheepish and she shrugged a little, one hand clutching her side.

"I forgot."

* * *

A/N: Yes, I realize that I am _severely_ dissing the Turbo Rangers, but it goes with the plot. And as far their fighting skills being way inferior to the Astros? You have to remember the Astro Rangers have been training to work and fight as a team since they were children and that Ashley has also been learning to fight since she was very young.

Going off of what we know about the second Turbo team from the show they have only been working together for a year tops and probably not even that long. If you also take into account that none of them had any real martial arts training; even if they were athletic; prior to being chosen, it's no wonder the Astro's (and probably most of the rest of the teams in the Universe) would be better than them

On a side note, this fic is focusing on the second Turbo team, that does not mean that all of the Rangers were against Ashley after she found out about Divatox, see if you can pick out any particulars in past or upcoming chapters.


	9. Catching Up

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, the computer I used to type this stuff, the paper I wrote it on originally, the desk the computers on, the stereo on the desk, the TV next to it . . . Okay, maybe I do own a lot of stuff. I do not, however, own the characters you recognize from Power Rangers and the more general plot points that follow stuff that happened in the show.

A/N: The things I do for you people, my entire family (with the exceptions of my father in Iraq and the Dog) has a full on bout of the Flu which refuses to go away, probably because we all keep sharing germs with each other, and yet I still sit here and type up the next chapter for my adoring fans.

Okay, I tried to update this on Saturday but the sight would not let me. Here it is now and don't worry the next chapter will still be out next Saturday.

Once again dedicated to my father in Iraq; also to whoever gave me this bug, if I ever figure it out I will find you.

* * *

Andros knew what his sister was going to say the moment she placed her hand on his shoulder. He also knew, from that moment, that he was going to follow her advice. He had thought it would have been fairly easy to catch up to Ashley; ten minutes later it became obvious that he had underestimated her speed.

Another five minutes went by and he considered having Deca scan for his wayward girlfriend, but decided against it thinking it would not be fair. Although, he was not sure why it would be unfair, he just figured it would be.

He finally decided to head toward the park and from there to her home. The first thing he saw when he reached the park, was Ashley. She was sitting on the edge of the fountain they had ended their evening at the night before. Her back was to him, her feet were obviously kicking back and forth across her reflection in the water.

_She's afraid._

Andros was unsure were the thought came from, though it sounded suspiciously like Karone's voice, but he knew it was right. She was ridiculed on Earth because of who her Aunt turned out to be and no doubt Divatox reveled in it thinking it would drive Ashley closer to her.

Ashley had come to KO-35 in order to start over and had instead become an honorary member of its Ranger team. She must have been worried sick about what would happen when they found out. And now they had and their reaction was probably the complete opposite of how the people on Earth reacted.

He fleetingly wondered what her adoptive family had though, but dropped it when he heard a soft hiccup and noticed Ashley's shoulders shaking a tiny bit.

Andros shifted a little bit before taking a tentative step forward; he **really **was not good with crying women. He stopped once more when he was close enough to hear Ashley's soft sobs. After another moment of hesitation he took a deep, calming breath and stepped up behind her, looking over her shoulder into the fountains water.

Ashley was to engrossed in her reflection to notice that she had company; even when her boyfriends image appeared next to hers. Andros stood watching her, her brown eyes fixed on those of her counterpart as her feet absentmindedly kicked at the water, sending ripples through the images face. Almost as though she could not stand the sight of herself but, at the same time, could not look away.

They stayed there, both of them silent, one searching for the right words, the other lost in her own thoughts, until Andros could take the silence no longer and, for better or worse, cleared his throat, startling the young woman who had not noticed his presence.

"You startled me Andros!" she panted, one hand hovering over her rapidly bearing heart. Her other hand held her body steady as she leaned back to look him.

"I think you knew I was here." He replied as he sat down beside her, one foot on the ground and the other leg resting on the fountain edge.

Ashley looked off into the distance over his shoulder for a moment before smiling slightly.

"I think you're right." Her voice teased as she turned her gaze back to him.

They smiled at each other and then turned to look at the cascading water. The two sat in companionable silence for quite some time. Andros was processing everything he learned that day while Ashley worked out what he would know now and what she still had to tell him.

"What happened with the Turbo Rangers?" Ashley interrupted the silence.

Andros looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw that she had not turned to face him.

"I wouldn't know." He did not move his gaze from the water, but could almost feel her disbelief and knew she raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I chased after you almost as soon as you started running."

Now Ashley did turn, if only partially, to look at him.

"Well then," she paused to gather her thoughts, "what did you do with the Turbo's?"

"Karone's taking care of it."

Ashley smirked, "And Karone told you to come after me."

The guilty expression on his face told her everything before he even opened his mouth.

"I would have come on my own."

"I know," Ashley interrupted, "You just would have taken care of Ranger business first. That's most likely why you actually did surprise me a little; I wasn't expecting you to come that quickly.

"So what happens now?" Ashley asked after a short pause.

"The Turbo Rangers are going back to Earth," Ashley looked at him sharply but he did not seem to notice. "They'll be packing as soon as I get back if Karone doesn't have them doing it already."

"I almost feel bad for them," Ashley looked at some point over his shoulder, then brought her gaze back to his and smirked, "I've seen your sister tear into Zhane."

"You shouldn't." The seriousness in his voice caused her to blink in surprise. "What they did . . . what they said to and about you was completely inexcusable." It was his turn to look off into the distance.

"They claim to be so open-minded," his head lowered as he shook it in disgust, "and I guess they are, in some ways. But in others . . ." his head came up slowly as his eyes locked with hers, the brown orbs showing his sincerity and determination and . . . something else she could not quite place. "In other ways they wouldn't accept the truth if it knocked them unconscious several times."

The seriousness and emotion in his voice kept Ashley riveted on his meaning rather than the absurd imagery created by the words.

"I don't want to cause any problems." She whispered.

"You're not." He answered quietly before sitting up and turning away abruptly, not noticing the slightly dejected look on Ashley's face.

"This has been coming almost since they got here, Ash. Their reaction to you was just . . ."

"Just what?" Ashley asked as his pause stretched on.

"I can't remember, exactly. It was something mentioned by one of the Others," his tone of voice made it fairly obvious who he was talking about, "something about an Earth creature of some sort, a camel, I think."

"A camel?" Ashley's expression changed from curious to disbelieving as her boyfriend trailed off.

"And straw." He nodded absently as he tried to think of the saying in question.

Ashley started chuckling as she realized what her Red Ranger was getting at. "The straw that broke the camel's back?" she asked in amusement.

"Yes, thank you." Andros sighed in relief. Then his face changed to a look of confusion. "I still don't get it. How could straw break something's back?"

Ashley smiled at his slightly confused, slightly petulant tone, not that she would ever tell him that she found his whining cute.

"First, a camel is a very large, very strong animal on Earth. One of them could carry several people on its back."

Andros blinked and she had to bite down a laugh at the look of surprise on his face. Whether it was caused by her explanation of a camel or the fact that she was explaining in general was unclear.

"That saying is talking about the fact that a lot of straw in one place can get pretty heavy. Each piece of straw represents a problem: an injury, a disagreement, an enemy. Individually they aren't that big a deal. Yeah something could cause you pain, but unless you're a Power Ranger," she smirked and bumped against his shoulder, forcing him to smile in return, "those individual problems aren't going to be fatal.

But as you add more problems, more pieces of straw on the back of the camel, the load gets heavier and heavier until you add one problem, one piece, too many and something breaks. The camels back, the persons will,"

"The collective temper of the Astro Rangers." Andros interrupted with a slightly depreciating, but mostly playful, grin.

"The collective temper of the Astro Rangers." Ashley conceded with a smile.

"You don't need to worry Ash," Andros tone was suddenly serious once again. "We won't let anything happen to you."

"I can take care of myself Andros." She replied with a soft smile.

"I don't doubt that," he smiled at her in return. "It doesn't mean I can't help."

The two began leaning toward each other.

"No, it doesn't." Ashley said softly as Andros reached up to cup her cheek in the palm of his hand.

The two sat in silence, searching each others eyes for something neither could quite name. Andros was the first to break eye contact as he glanced down at Ashley's lips. He saw the corners turn up slightly in a smile and glanced back up into her eyes to see them smiling as well. He gave her a small smile in return and leaned further in toward her. He watched her eyes flutter closed before allowing his own to shut expectantly.

As the Kerovian sun touched the horizon in the distance, the Red Astro Ranger and his soul mate shared their first kiss beside the fountain that could have marked the end of their relationship less than twenty-four hours before.

* * *

A/N: Alright, I have finals coming up, but I have also worked out a system of spending some time everyday writing out a page of this fic. Right now I'm in the middle of writing chapter 11. I'm only going to post once a week, that way I will hopefully stay ahead and be able to update regularly regardless of whatever else is going on. So there will most likely be an update every week, two maximum, rather than the six to eight months that would sometimes go by before I got a chance to write more.

Please Review and I'll see you next Saturday.


	10. Conversations and Realizations

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Power Rangers and, in all honesty, I wouldn't want to own any of the seasons following Space.

A/N: I tried to get this out on Saturday, but my niece's birthday party was this weekend so things were a little bit hectic.

This is once again dedicated to my Dad in Iraq and also to my niece (not that she's old enough to be interested in going on-line to _read_), Happy Birthday Maya.

* * *

Andros and Ashley spent the next half an hour walking around the park hand in hand. There was an unspoken agreement that the heavier topics would be saved until they were truly alone. Instead, their time was spent laughing at stories of their childhoods.

Andros told her about himself, the other Rangers, and Zhane; what is was like growing up knowing that you would become a Power Ranger, especially when you knew you would be the team leader. He also told her some of the things Zhane did, and some of the things he had talked Andros and the others into. The stories had Ashley laughing so hard she was almost crying.

Ashley, for her part, told him about her adoptive parents and how kind they were. She shared tales of her older brother, Jeff, and her cousin, Kimberly, who had started teaching her martial arts and gymnastics when she was three.

It was Andros turn to laugh uproariously as Ashley told him that the reason they started training her so young was because she would not stop following the two. And that, if they did not help her she would just copy them and that this went on until got to the point that they would have to help her or she would have hurt herself because she was doing something wrong.

"Later on they told me that they enjoyed teaching me," she explained, "and I know that my later teachers appreciated it."

"What do you mean?"

"I listen and I'm very patient." She giggled a little at his look of confusion. "If my instructors told me to do something I would do it. I trusted them to know when to push me past my limit and when I really needed a break. They appreciated the fact that I didn't complain when they told me to sit out or take a break.

"A few years ago Jeff and Kim told me that I had spoiled them for all of their future students."

"Why?"

Andros smiled as he looked over at the girl walking beside him. This was the first time she really opened up and talked to him about her past. Ashley was completely relaxed and was leaning into him as they walked along. She looked up and smiled at his interest before turning back to the walkway and speaking once again.

"They both started tutoring students when they were around fourteen or fifteen. I'm not sure exactly when Kim started, my family had to move away from Angel Grove, where I grew up," she hurried to explain as she realized she had never told Andros where she lived on Earth, "we moved back a few years latter but by then Kim had moved away.

"Anyway, when they started teaching all of the kids wanted to skip the tedious stuff and get straight to the kicks and punches, or in Kim's case the back handsprings or getting on the gym equipment. The stuff they saw everyday on T.V., holovids," she corrected as Andros' eyebrows once again began to furrow, "and in movies. It made them miss me as a student because I would always listen and wait until my instructors thought I was ready to try something new."

"Huh, that's pretty much the exact opposite of Karone. When we started training she was always trying to do things before our teachers thought she was ready . . . she ended up with a lot of broken bones that way."

Ashley laughed as she pictured a seven year old Karone, in the little yellow jumpsuit she had seen in some of the holograms the Rangers had shown her at various points, trying to perform some of the moves they used in the battle that afternoon. The two continued walking toward Ashley's home as they both settled back into a comfortable silence.

"I had a good time . . . outside of the battling my aunt thing." Ashley chuckled when they reached her front door.

Andros sobered as he realized that the two were about to part ways for the evening.

"Come back to the Megaship with me." he blurted suddenly.

"Andros . . ." Ashley sighed as her shoulders drooped.

"Please, we'll make sure the Turbo's don't bother you." He kept talking as Ashley continued to look down-trodden. "I know the others will want to know how you're doing and Zhane doesn't know anything," here Ashley snorted softly at Andros' double meaning, causing him to smile in satisfaction before turning serious once more.

"I'll be up all night worrying about you if you stay here." Andros saw her moving to protest and cut her off softly before she could begin.

"I know you can take care of yourself, but with Divatox around and knowing you're here . . . I'll be worried." He finished lamely, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly.

Ashley looked him in the eye and saw that he truly was already worried about her. She did not have the heart to tell him that her aunt wanted her to become her apprentice, or something, of her own free will. Divatox had never just attacked her, nor did she try to talk more that once a day, and the likelihood that her aunt would try to kidnap her was extremely slim.

She was not sure why Divatox treated her differently; whether it was because she was her aunt or if there was something in her personality that she was unable to suppress around her niece. She thought it might be the latter, considering how Divatox treated Elgar, and it brought her some hope for the woman. But those were thoughts for another time.

Ashley closed her eyes and shook her head slightly to rid herself of her introspectiveness. She looked back up at her boyfriend and smiled crookedly as she rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.

"Alright fine, I'll spend the next few days on the ship."

Andros let out a sigh of relief followed by a light blush as Ashley chuckled at his reaction. The teenage girl turned and pulled out the keys to her front door, still giggling every few seconds.

"Come in and have a seat." Ashley called over her shoulder as she walked through the door and made her way down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. "I'm just going to pack some things for the next few days."

Andros smiled at her retreating back as he passed by the hallway and went to sit on the sofa in her living room. Everything important was out in the open now and the entire team knew Ashley's secret.

_Everything's downhill from here._ He thought as he closed his eyes and relaxed into the couch.

He released a happy sigh as he settled in and closed his eyes while he waited. His mind began to wander, as it often did recently, toward the gorgeous brunette in the room a few meters away. Andros thought back over the couple of months; meeting her and how she had become a major part of his life so quickly.

The feelings he had for her had become almost overwhelming at times and he took the opportunity, while his teammates were all on the ship and the quite sounds of Ashley moving around and mumbling to herself relaxed him, to examine some of the more recent feelings he had not had time to process over the last twenty-four hours.

He went through the pain, loss, and confusion of the previous night; the anxiousness and frustration of the morning; the fear for her safety and pride in her abilities this afternoon; and the relief, happiness, and warmth of the last hour or so.

Throughout everything else one emotion overshadowed all the others, one he had been trying to name for a few weeks. His eyes shot open and he tensed slightly in astonishment, one thought going through his mind as Ashley walked back down the hall, a few traveling bags perched on her shoulders.

_I'm in love with her.

* * *

_

A/N: So there is chapter 10. I'm sorry it wasn't as long as some of the other recent chapters have been but I thought that was just the absolutely perfect place to stop.

As always, thank you so much for the reviews, I really enjoy hearing back from everyone.

Until next week.


	11. Historical Advances

AN:SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY. And on anther note, my dad should be home sometime in the next month . . . YAY.

Disclaimer: Don't own it and, in the case of some of the more recent seasons, don't want to.

* * *

The Astro Rangers, plus Zhane, were camped out in the infirmary when Ashley and Andros teleported back to the ship. Andros immediately demanded to know what was wrong, going straight back into leader mode as he rejoined his team.

Ashley walked in behind him, her worried expression transforming into a slight smirk as she recognized the change in her boyfriend's tone. Her eyes met Servia's over Andros' shoulder and the two of them rolled their eyes at his behavior.

Andros shot a withering look at his best friend as Zhane snapped into a military salute in response to the Red Rangers tone. His glare turned from Zhane to the Pink Ranger when he caught the tail end of her gesture. Servia glanced down in embarrassment then glared back up at the young brunet standing almost directly behind her leader and who was trying desperately not to laugh aloud.

In the meantime, Andros continued to shoot glares around the room for a few moments before giving up and rolling his eyes as well, realizing that the longer he spent trying to subdue his subordinates the more they were going to act up. He glanced behind him, expecting to share a look with Ashley and instead he found her bent double trying to stifle her laughter at the scene.

The look of surprise on his face was all that the others needed and within a few moments the room was filled with the laughter of the Astro Rangers and their friends. Even Andros joined in after spending a few moments trying to quell the rest of his team.

"Oh, oww, oww!" Kerone cried from the back of the room.

Everyone turned away from the door to see her sitting up and holding her ribs with tears streaming down her face as she tried to get her laughter under control.

"Kerone!"

"Kerone, what happened?"

Zhane turned back to his sort-of-girlfriend as her brother rushed to join the two. Ashley stayed beside the door knowing Kerone would soon get frustrated with everyone fussing around her. Besides, there was very little that the Rangers could not take care of in their own med bay.

Instead, Ashley looked around at the rest of the team, taking in the fact that they all knew the truth now and they really did not care. As her gaze wandered over the Rangers she took in the little things that others might miss. Like the fact that Andros was the one treating his sister as she explained her injuries and that Zhane was hovering just over the Red Rangers shoulder, his expression giving away far more concern for the Yellow Ranger than that of her own brother.

Servia and Kalic were leaning against the other bed in the med bay. Their heads were close together and they were whispering to each other. Every so often Servia would giggle lightly in response to whatever it was Kalic was saying.

Ashley smiled at the picture they made and wondered how long they had been keeping this secret. Her gaze wandered on until her eyes landed on Orian. The Black Ranger was rather stoic and preferred to keep his thoughts to himself unless someone asked him something. Andros told her that Orian was the most observant of them and was the one that they relied on to notice the little things while the rest of the team dealt with the major points of their missions.

Prior to that day, Ashley was under the impression that the black haired, slightly Asian looking man did not like her, regardless of knowing about her family. But he was the one who stuck up for her. He yelled at the Turbo Rangers in her defense when she had barely heard him speak in the weeks since Andros introduced her to the rest of the team.

Orian turned to meet her gaze as she was considering him and nodded his head to her with a slight smile, which she returned whole heartedly. He went to cross his arms and winced, causing Ashley's brows to furrow in concern.

"Let me see your wrist." She ordered in the same voice her brother and cousin used while teaching.

Orian looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he held out his left arm obediently; all Rangers were trained to follow instructions given in that tone.

Ashley walked over and gently took his wrist in both her hands, ignoring the stares of the other Rangers. She massaged the left side of his wrist lightly with one hand while listening intently until she reached a spot that caused Orian to take in a sharp breath and wince slightly in pain. She glanced up at his face and gave him an apologetic smile before repeating the procedure on the right side of his wrist, finding a second spot of pain on the right that was parallel to the first.

When she was finished, she gently released his arm and walked over to the back wall where all of the physical supplies and the medical synthesizer were located.

"Deca, can you produce Dioxide Calcinium?" She asked the computer while searching the med supplies for some sort of wrist splint.

"Affirmative, it will be ready in a few moments Ashley."

"Ah ha," the brunet called as she held up a splint that had been hidden in the back of one of the lower cupboards. "Thank's Deca." She said while picking the small cup of medicine up out of the synthesizer before walking back over to where Orian stood.

"You have two small bone fractures, one on each side of your wrist," she explained while wrapping the splint around his wrist. "The Dioxide Calcinium should only need about twenty minutes to heal them fully."

"Wait, wait," Servia, the teams usual medic, interrupted. "First, it takes Dioxide Calcinium at least three hours to heal any actual bone breaks or fractures and, second, how do you know that that's what's wrong, you didn't even scan him?!"

Servia's tone was an almost comical mix of confusion, frustration, and petulance as Ashley did something completely foreign to her.

Ashley's face cleared after a few moments as she realized Servia was not really questioning her in a derogatory way. The Pink Ranger seemed more concerned with figuring out how she had come to her conclusions.

"My mother, adopted, is a nurse on Earth. She started teaching the kids in our family first aid when we were practically still babies because we all got ourselves hurt so often. I got really interested in it when she started teaching me, so she kept going even after I had everything about basic first aid memorized.

"Then, a couple years ago, Divatox came to Earth and realized I was her niece. She left for a little while before coming back and attacking the Earth in earnest and . . . I went with her."

To their credit, none of the others so much as blinked at Ashley's statement. Ashley did not notice this at first; she hadn't looked up at anyone since she started talking, even after she finished working on Orian's wrist. After a few seconds of silence, Ashley felt something bump into her leg and looked up to meet Orian's steady gaze. He smiled a little and nodded for her continue. She let her eyes wander over the other Rangers and saw that they were all waiting for her to continue without any sort of judgment in their eyes.

"I wasn't exactly privy to the world of the Power Rangers at the time," she began speaking again with a look of relief on her face that had all of the Astro's vowing to get some hard "training" in with the Turbo's before they returned the other Rangers to Earth. "I had no way of knowing exactly what she was doing and she wasn't about to share with me right off.

"Anyway, as soon as I figured enough out, I left. I decided to try hitching rides back toward Earth, I guess Divatox decided to meet me there, and was paying for them by helping out the medic's on the ships. I learned a lot about the different medications and treatments from around the Universe and I taught the other medics the techniques I learned on Earth. I also started to find ways to combine different things and make the healing easier and faster.

"You see, Dioxide Calcinium speeds up the re-growth and knitting of broken bones by a tremendous amount and, over time, medics stopped using splints and casts and things because the DC acts so quickly. It would actually only take an hour maybe and hour and a half, to heal a full, clean break except for the fact that the patients are allowed to move. When they move their bones scrape each other or re-brake causing the DC to need more time because it needs to keep re-healing things.

"So I suggested that splints be used to stabilize injuries so that patients stopped re-braking things while the medicine works."

Ashley glanced around when she finished speaking and saw Kerone and Servia staring at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Andros, Zhane, and Kalic each blinked a few times before glancing at each other and shrugging in a unanimous decision to move on. Orian just smirked.

"Tha . . . tha . . . that's absolute brilliance." Servia's breathless voice finally interrupted the silence. "Why didn't I think of that? Why didn't anyone else think of that? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Ashley's eyes widened as the normally calm Pink Ranger began to hyperventilate. The other Rangers just rolled their eyes while Kalic took Servia's shoulders and began whispering in her ear.

It took a few minutes for the Pink Ranger to calm down. She opened her mouth to ask Ashley another question but was interrupted by the ships emergency alarms. Everyone tensed as Andros asked Deca about what was going on.

"There is a monster attacking Landria."

Ashley's furrowed brows went unnoticed as Andros immediately began barking out orders.

"Kerone, don't you dare get out of that bed. Zhane, get up to the bridge and bring the Megaship around to the other side of the planet in case we need it. The rest of you are with me. We'll take the gliders ahead."

Zhane and the four standing Rangers raced out of the room without looking back. The room remained silent as the two remaining women pondered what had just occurred.

"Why would she send a monster to Landria?" Kerone asked aloud. "There's nothing in Landria."

"Because Landria and Cordiyeana are on opposite sides of the planet." Ashley murmured in response.

Kerone looked at the other woman in askance which quickly turned to concern as she took in her friend's posture. Ashley was standing with her arms wrapped protectively around herself. Her eyes were squeezed together tightly and her face was turned away, almost as thought she could not look at the Yellow Ranger, even with her eyes closed.

"What's wrong?"

"Andros was right," Ashley sighed as she dropped her arms and opened her eyes to glare at the door the others had run out of. "Andros with his _stupid, stupid_ paranoia was right."

Ashley sighed and closed her eyes while turning her gaze to the opposite side of the room. She still could not look at Kerone.

"He wanted me on the Megaship for the next few days because he was worried that my Aunt would come after me again. I decided to humor him. After all, Divatox has never come at me full force before. She would just talk to me, fight with me, probably in order to make sure that I kept my skills above par, and then leave me alone for a few days to think it over."

"You're not alone anymore." Kerone's voice surprised Ashley into looking up and meeting the Yellow Rangers calm gaze. "When you were on Earth, almost everyone shunned you because of her. You were isolated and she was able to take her time in trying to ware your resolve down. But here, here you have people who care about you because of who _you_ are. People who will support you and protect you, regardless of whoever your family is."

"Andros." Ashley whispered with a look of dawning comprehension.

"And the rest of us." Kerone nodded her agreement. "Your never going to be alone again Ashley, and Divatox knows that."

Ashley's head snapped up at that, a look of horrified resolve in her eyes that caused Kerone to startle back.

"I have to go.'

"What?"

"She won't stop until she's captured me. I have to go. I have to stop her."

"Ashley, wait . . ."

"No Kerone, the Rangers are needed in Landria right now and there is no telling what kind of damage my Aunt could do, or who she could hurt while we wait for them to get back." Ashley responded over her shoulder as she walked to the door.

"Ashley!" Kerone barked. Ashley stopped, almost involuntarily, at the others girls stern tone. "You can not go down there alone and unarmed."

Ashley turned around in confusion to see Kerone sitting up, her eyes creased with pain, as she held out a hand to her brother's girlfriend.

* * *

AN: Okay, so I'm evil. But I promise that the next chapter will be up by the end of the month. There's only two or three chapters left in this particular fanfic, but I have a few more idea's to be set in this universe. I may end up writing all the way through the current seasons. But the emphasis will be on the rest of the Universe, rather than on Earth. Anyway, that's stuff for another time. I'm really sorry it took so long to update, please review, even if it's to yell at me about how long this took. 


	12. Power Flux

Disclaimer: I'm sure everyone it glad that I don't own it. We'd get an episode a year that way.

* * *

"That was way too easy." Servia said as she took off her helmet.

Kalic was already nodding as his blue teleportation beam faded and the Mega Ship's bridge appeared around him. "No Piranhatrons, no Divatox, no monster quadrupling in size after we defeat in."

"It was a distraction." Orian's soft voice cut in.

"Deca, are there any other attacks going on right now?" Andros' resigned voice cut through every one's thoughts.

"Yes." The AI answered immediately.

The other four Kerovians on the bridge started in surprise while Andros closed his eyes and sighted in frustration. "Where is the second attack?"

"Cordiyeana."

No one noticed Andros slump against the doorway as Zhane whirled around to glare at DECA's camera.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Karone ordered me not to."

Zhane's eyes widened and he whirled back around at Servia's gasp of surprise. The Kerovians stood looking at each other in shock. It took a few moments, but all four of them noticed that Andros was missing at the same time. The four glanced at one another again before tearing off the bridge and nearly tripping over each other as they raced toward the infirmary. They caught up to Andros just as he was walking into the medical bay and beginning to yell at he girl within.

"What in the galaxy is she thinking going on her own while . . . Karone?"

The others crashed into the doorway gasping for breath and clutching the walls in an attempt to stay on their feet. The Blue, Black, and Pink Rangers chuckled between heavy breaths as Zhane murmured his thanks to any deity listening. None of them noticed the tense silence between their leader and his second in command.

Andros scanned the room slowly, his eyebrows lowering further and further with each passing second. His sister watched him impassively while the others giggled and gasped behind him. "Where's Ashley?"

An absolute silence followed as the Kerovians in the doorway noticed the absence of the civilian. All eyes fixed on Karone as the harsh breathing resumed. The Yellow Ranger said nothing and continued to meet her brother's gaze for several more moments before moving it to one of the med bay's walls.

The eyes in the doorway followed hers to the small vid screen showing Piranhatrons attacking Cordiyeana, the monster directing them, and the lone figure of Ashley Hammond skirting the chaos trying to get the other civilians out of the area of attack. Andros did not even look at the monitor. He simply turned on his heal and began storming our. The others quickly moved out of his way after seeing his thunderous expression, none of them had ever seen him that angry.

"The Mega Ship began circling back around the minute your teleportation streams were fully aboard." Karone's steady voice froze Andros a few feet in front of the open doors, "It would be faster for you to wait until we're close enough and then teleport down."

"DECA, what's our ETA?" Andros calm voice caused everyone but Karone to glance anxiously at each other. If he suppressed his anger now it would make the explosion latter all the more harrowing and as frightening as that thought was, they all knew that suppression was necessary right now.

"We will be within teleportation range in seven minutes and fifty-three seconds."

Andros nodded curtly and did not even bother to turn around as he addressed the other active Rangers, "Be on the bridge and ready to go in five."

The other three Rangers nodded even though Andros had already left the room. Zhane was focused on Karone and within a few seconds the others had turned their attention back to her as well. The injured girl's attention had barely wavered once she turned it back to the vid screen.

Karone knew her friends were watching her but she could not tear her eyes away from the destruction of Cordiyeana. After a few moments the others turned their attention back to the vid screen as well and all was silent as they continued to watch. Four sets of eyes widened as Divatox teleported to the surface of KO-35 for the second time that day.

"We will be teleportation range in four minutes." DECA's automated voice caused all of the room's occupants to jump.

The three active Rangers looked at each other, torn between reporting to the bridge Andros ordered and staying to watch what was happening on the screen. Almost simultaneously the three went running for the door, as if they believed that whoever got to the bridge first would be in the least amount of trouble.

"DECA," Zhane looked at Karone as she spoke, but she never took her eyes off the screen before her, "are we in audio range?"

"Affirmative."

"Let's hear it."

". . . won't let you hurt anymore innocent people!" Ashley's voice suddenly yelled over the speakers.

"Then come with me. If you join me we'll leave. Heck we would leave the entire Kerova System in peace."

"You mean in pieced. I won't let myself be brainwashed Aunt Divatox. I won't let you hurt innocent people and I won't let you _coerce_ me into hurting them either."

Divatox crossed her arms as one of her eyebrows rose with her amusement. She glanced behind Ashley before meeting her niece's gaze once again with a smirk. "What other option do you have, my dear?"

Ashley looked over her shoulder uncertainly. Behind her a woman was crouched with her young son, two civilians she had been trying to help when her aunt arrived. Her gaze moved to the ground as her mind frantically searched for a solution. She was loosing her hope that the Rangers would arrive in time. Ashley took a calming breath and began to lift her gaze to meet her aunts once more when the sunlight glinted off her wrist and caught her eye. The small smile that began to form on the brunet's lips had become a full blown smirk by the time she met the villainess' masked eyes.

"I have the impossible one."

The quite statement caused Karone to gasp slightly as an expectant gleam entered her eyes and her lips formed a sly smile. Her ribs ached slightly as she maneuvered herself fully upright in the bed, but the moment took precedence over the pain and she ignored it; her smile turned triumphant grin remaining firmly in place.

Zhan's eyes snapped to his injured girlfriend as she heard her gasp, then they widened in shock before rolling exasperation as he moved to force her to lay back down. He stopped, however, when he noticed that she was missing something, he was about to voice his confusion when a familiar voice shouted a familiar phrase through the med bay's speakers. Zhane's jaw dropped as he whirled around to face the screen. He thought back on how over protective his best friend had always been as he watched in awe. In his mind, he took Andros' emotions and tripled them.

On the planets surface, Divatox' eyebrows kit in confusion for a few moments before her eyes widened in stunned disbelief and her jaw dropped in horror.

As the majority of the planet watched, Ashley Hammond lifter her left arm straight out in front of her before folding it into her body and raising her right hand to meet a device located on its wrist. Her fingers deftly flicked a hidden latch and the cover of the device lifted to reveal a small number pad. The brunet quickly typed in the code Karone gave her in the med bay while shouting for all to hear, "Let's Rocket."

The yellow lights of her morph died down just as the rainbow of teleportation beams set the other Rangers down beside her.

Servia gasped lightly as the teleportation blind left and she got her first look at the battle torn are and the figure standing beside them. Kalic turned at the sound and stumbled slightly as he too caught site of the yellow clad figure. Orian just crossed his arms, cocked his head to the side and muttered "huh" as he took in the scene.

Everyone turned their attention to Andros as the Red Ranger cocked his own head to the right and looked his girlfriend up and down before speaking. "The color suits you."

"You think?" Ashley replied quietly, confused doubt heavy in her voice.

"Ahem!"

All eyes turned back to find Divatox standing with her arms akimbo waiting for the attention to return to her. The five Rangers shifted in embarrassment as they realized how much damage the villainess could have done along with the fact that at least one newsvid caught their inattention.

"So, this is what you choose, Ashley?"

"It is."

"Very well then.'

The minions leapt into action as soon as their mistress finished speaking. The Piranhatrons raced for the Blue, Pink, and Black Rangers as the monster took on Andros. This left Ashley to once again take her aunt on alone, but this time she also had the Power.

The battle waged for a good ten minutes before the last of the Piranhatrons fell. The three Rangers who fought them hurried to assist their leader. Another fifteen and the monster joined its compatriots and, with Divatox to distracted t give a launch order, it stayed down, allowing the four to turn their attention to their current fifth.

Ashley had been holding her own for about twenty-five minutes of hand to hand combat, thanks to the Power, when Divatox pulled a sword from out of nowhere. Her eyes widened beneath her helmet as she dodged a slow moving blow aimed at her shoulder. A small screen popped up on the interior of her visor, but Ashley dismissed it after a short glance, she would be unable to get enough distance for the Star Slinger to be effective and she did not really want to hurt her aunt anyway.

As soon as she dismissed the first screen, a second popped up to take its place. This one detailed a more close-contact oriented weapon that she had never seen Karone use.

Ashley dodged another blow, aimed at her legs, by jumping up and flipping over the other woman's head. She called out for the "Battle Blade" mid-flip and landed lightly enough to spin around and meet Divatox' sword with what had been the outer edge of her left glove.

Everyone hesitated just long enough for Ashley to snap her right fist forward in a punch that threw her aunt a few yards back. She winced slightly, not having meant to use so much power, but otherwise did nothing, not wanting _anyone _to think she was switching sides. The other Rangers rushed to her side as Divatox got slowly to her feet.

"Alright Ashley," she began once she was fully risen, "you win this round. I really should go report this to Dark Specter anyway. I'll be seeing you dear," her voice turned colder as she glanced to the other four heroes surrounding her niece, "_all_ of you."

She disappeared before anyone could move and Ashley's shoulders slumped as the Battle Blade faded. A white glove appeared in the corner of her eye and she turned to look at him as the Red Ranger settled his hand on her still yellow clad shoulder.

"Let's head back to the ship."

Ashley and the others nodded in response. Ashley too lost in thought to notice as she mentally typed in the teleportation access code, or that the other four waited a split-second before mentally typing in their own, as the now yellow light flared up around her and carried her back to the Kerovian Rangers base.

* * *

AN: One thing I really have to say about this chapter. It never made sense to me how the Rangers could stand their in full uniform and the monster they were fighting never so much as growled at them until they were ready to turn their attention toward it. Yes, I know it's a children's television show and in that respect it does make sense, but I'm trying to make this just a bit more realistic.

There is one more chapter in this arc of the story, or maybe it would be more accurate to say this story in this universe? Anyway, I'll try to get the last chapter up next week. Until then, thank you to all the people who have stuck with my . . . irregular update schedule. I'll try to better from now on.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own this show.

* * *

Ashley powered down and began walking toward the Med-bay as soon as she landed back on the ship. The others followed quickly when they realized she was not going to say anything until they rejoined Karone and Zhane.

Karone smiled at her friend when she entered, but ignored Ashley's outstretched hand. The injured Ranger glared when she caught sight of her brother.

"I can't believe you thought I'd let her go down there alone and unarmed!"

"How was I supposed to know your morpher would work for her?"

"My morpher?" Karone's eyebrow rose and mischief sparkled in her eyes. "I'm afraid I must have heard you wrong, dear brother, I don't have a morpher. In fact I have never _had_ a morpher. I have been considering looking for one of my own though . . ."

"What are you talking about Karone? You've always had a morpher!"

"I have been _borrowing_ a morpher and now that it's found its rightful owner, I sincerely doubt the Power's just gonna let me keep using it."

Servia's gasp interrupted the tennis match between the siblings. "That's how she could use that blade thingy."

"Battle Blade." The others turned to look at Ashley and her confident stance slowly became uncertain as they continued to stare. "What?"

"I've never used that weapon before, Ash. In fact, I didn't even know it existed."

"But—"

"Ashley," Andros began, "you need to understand something. Only certain people can use the Power."

"I knew that." Andros gave her a look normally reserved for his exasperation with Zhane. "Sorry."

The other Rangers smirked; then quickly tried to hide it when Andros turned to them.

"As I was saying, only certain people can use the Power. But it goes beyond that. The Power is even more selective than most civilians believe. It chooses. Each morpher only has one person it will fully work for. There might be other people who can use it; generally another Ranger on the same team or sometimes of the same color. But there will only ever be one person who can fully unlock its secrets."

"Ash," the young woman's gaze switched from brother to sister, "I've never heard of the Battle Blade." Karone spoke slowly. Trying to make sure Ashley understood.

Ashley blinked slowly. Her gaze flitted around the room; trying to find something, anything, to ground her. The others remained silent as her gaze settled on each of them in turn. Even Zhane managed to stay serious, letting Ashley come to grips with what she just heard.

"What . . . what does that mean?" she asked as she finally locked eyes with Andros.

"It means you were meant to be a Ranger, Ash. No matter what anyone says or thinks, you're one of the good guys."

Ashley's gaze did not leave Andros' as she moved to sit down. She realized a second before she relaxed that she had not been standing in front of anything she could sit on. Everyone started a little as she suddenly landed on the floor. The room held its breath until Zhane's snort interrupted the silence. Ashley began giggling and soon everyone was laughing hard while the tension dissipated. Andros crossed the room and sat down next to Ashley as she crossed her legs in front of herself. Zhane leaned against the bed Karone was laying on while the others joined Andros and Ashley on the floor.

A new frown began to form on Ashley's face as everyone clamed down. "I still don't . . ." she paused as she glanced at everyone's concerned faces, "I mean, I . . . I . . . Divatox is my—"

"Ashley." They all turned startled eyes to Andros as his bark interrupted his girlfriend. His voice softened as she once again met his gaze. "Who are your parents?"

"I—"

"Your real parents."

"Andros . . . you know I don't know the answer to that."

The others looked at each other in confusion. Orian shrugged it off and turned back to the couple with the others quickly following suit. Ashley would tell them when she was ready. Karone's triumphant smile returned as she realized the new Yellow Ranger was already comfortable enough to share her true story with her brother.

"Exactly." Andros voice brought everyone back to the present. "For all we know your family could be completely good."

Ashley blinked in surprise. She was unsure how much time she spent lost in thought before Andros' hand on her cheek turned her gaze to meet his once more. His soft eyes drew her back to him as he tucked one of her curls back into place behind her ear. Then he smirked as his hand dropped down to grasp hers.

"Divatox could be the odd one out." Ashley let out a breath and gave him a small smile of thanks.

"Yeah." Zhane's loud voice ruined the moment. The other three Rangers rolled their eyes while Karone fisted her hands to prevent herself hitting her boyfriend. Andros and Ashley could not prevent the blushes rising on their cheeks as they remembered their audience. Zhane glanced around the room and smirked in satisfaction before continuing. "Zordon could be your dad!"

He nearly fell off the bed laughing when all six of the other people in the room gave him Andros' look.

"So Ash," Servia drawled once Zhane quieted down. She glanced at Karone and the blonde began to smile menacingly as the two turned back to Ashley. The Yellow Ranger glanced nervously between the two while she waited for the Pink Ranger to continue. "What did Andros say to convince you to come up to the ship?"

Ashley let out an undignified squeak and attempted to launch herself across the room. Servia squeaked herself as she ducked behind Kalic in order to avoid an attack which never came. Ashley forgot to let go of Andros' hand and so ended up sprawled across the middle of the room underneath his stunned form.

The room once again erupted into laughter. The embarrassed couple in the middle joined their friends as they untangled themselves and moved back to their previous sitting position. The seven of them continued talking and joking for another hour until Karone's eyes drooped too far for anyone to ignore.

The five Rangers left Zhane gazing at his sleeping girlfriend and filed into the Megalift. Ashley's eyes widened as she realized that the Turbo Rangers were sleeping on the guest deck and that all six of the permanent Ranger rooms were taken. She saw a small smirk flit across Servia's lips as the other girl realized the same thing. Ashley glared at her for a second before an almost evil gleam entered her eyes.

When the lift doors opened on the Ranger's private level, Ashley grabbed Andros' arm and began dragging him down the hall before Servia had a chance to open her mouth or the boys realized anything was wrong. She paused only long enough for the door to open before pulling a wide eyed Red Ranger into his own room. The door slid shut behind them leaving the three other Rangers staring slack jawed from their positions inside the lift.

* * *

Ashley dropped Andros' arm and turned away in embarrassment as soon as the door closed. He blinked a few times both to get used to the suddenly dim lighting and to get over his shock. He took a step forward and moved to place his hands on her shoulders. She whirled around at the last second and both started at their sudden proximity.

"I'm sorry." Ashley blurted. Andros tilted his head in confusion. "I shouldn't have just come barging in here. I just saw the look on Servia's face and I couldn't take anymore teasing and I figured if we got behind a closed door fast enough they wouldn't have a chance too, but now there's going to be even more teasing when I go back out there because I can't sleep here and I don't really want to sleep on the guest deck so that just leaves Ser—"

Her voice was cut off by Andros' lips. His arms wound their way around her waist and pulled her closer. After a second of stunned hesitation her fingers flowed up the lines of his arms and buried themselves in his hair as she responded.

Andros pulled back from the kiss slowly and leaned his forehead against hers as they both regained their breath. "Stay."

Ashley smiled slightly and shook her head as her eyes softened. "Andros—"

"Not to . . . just to sleep. I promise." She opened her mouth again and he quickly cut her off. "That's what I really meant, down on the surface. I mean, just having you on the ship is reassuring. And I obviously wasn't thinking logically at the time, looking back. But," he stopped to run a hand through his two toned hair nervously. He turned away and took a deep breath before once again meeting her curious gaze. "The truth is that the only way I can be sure that you're okay, that Divatox hasn't gotten to you, is if I'm holding you in my arms."

It was Ashley's turn to look away as she chewed on her lower lip. After a tense silence, she took a deep breath and released it slowly. Her gaze returned to his with a rueful smile, "All of my things are still up in the Med-bay; I'm going to need to borrow something to sleep in."

Twenty minuets later they were laying together in his bed, each dressed in one of his uniform shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. They looked at each other in silence for a few moments before Ashley threw an arm across his chest and snuggled into his heartbeat. She smiled as his arm wrapped around her waist and drew her closer to him. She had a boyfriend who she was pretty sure loved her, despite her only known blood relative; friends that accepted her, again in spite of her family; and it turned out she was destined to be a Ranger. _Everything else can wait_, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

She was home.

* * *

AN: So this is the end of "Between Good and Evil". It's taken forever to get it all written and typed up, and I apologize for that. There is more to the story of this universe, so don't worry so much about the loose ends. I have an "interlude" that I already have written that's made up of seven drabbles which I will start posting tomorrow. There's another chapter story after that. I have most of it planned, but that's also going to take awhile, I will hopefully do better with my updates on that one. Thank you to everyone who stuck through the grueling years it took me to get out 13 chapters. I hope you like the ending.

~Fantasywriter13


End file.
